US immigration agency records arrests and deportations in 2026

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recorded more than 491,000 immigration arrests and 483,200 deportations in the 2026 fiscal year, the highest annual totals in the agency's history, according to figures released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recorded more than 491,000 immigration arrests and 483,200 deportations in the 2026 fiscal year, the highest annual totals in the agency’s history, according to figures released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

The fiscal year ended on September 30. The deportation figure exceeded the previous annual record of 442,640, set in fiscal year 2025, by around nine percent, according to the agency.

The figures included nearly 475,000 administrative arrests, also a record, DHS said. ICE recorded 50,925 arrests in August, surpassing the previous monthly high of 50,208 in July.

The agency also reported more than 48,000 arrests in September. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin described the month as the most successful September in ICE’s history for arrests.

“Fiscal Year 2026 saw the highest number of ICE deportations and arrests for any year in ICE’s history,” Mullin said in a statement.

He credited President Donald Trump’s administration with expanding immigration enforcement, saying ICE had been given greater authority to target and remove people living in the United States unlawfully.

The figures were released amid questions about the transparency of the administration’s immigration enforcement data. The Associated Press reported that ICE had not published similarly detailed arrest figures since Trump returned to office, while the latest announcement did not provide a breakdown of how many people arrested had criminal convictions.

A separate analysis by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse found that formal removals accounted for 63 percent of deportations in July and August 2026, with the remainder involving voluntary departures and returns, CBS News reported.