Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported a record 483,200 individuals during fiscal year 2026, according to newly obtained Department of Homeland Security figures, marking a historic escalation in President Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda as the American public continues to wrestle with the expanding scope of interior enforcement operations.
The total number of deportations represents the highest annual figure ever recorded in ICE’s reported history, surpassing the agency’s previous record of 442,640 set in fiscal year 2025. ICE also reported more than 491,000 immigration arrests during the fiscal year ending September 30, including nearly 475,000 administrative arrests , another record, according to DHS. Administrative arrests refer to cases in which individuals suspected of being undocumented are taken into custody for civil immigration violations rather than criminal offenses.
These figures underscore a defining characteristic of President Trump’s second term , a sweeping enforcement campaign shaped by dramatic shifts in immigration policy and the significant operational expansion of federal law enforcement presence in communities well beyond the southern border. However, they emerge at a politically sensitive moment for the administration.
Following substantial Republican losses in the midterm elections, the president has publicly acknowledged that certain aspects of his deportation campaign may have exceeded appropriate limits. Yet that admission was accompanied by the decision to elevate Stephen Miller , the principal architect of many of the administration’s most restrictive immigration policies , to the position of White House Chief of Staff.
These new figures further illuminate a tension reflected in American public opinion. CBS News polling has consistently shown broad support for border security alongside growing unease regarding how immigration laws are being enforced within communities across the country.
Behind the record-breaking numbers
According to DHS, the new deportation total is approximately 18% higher than the 409,849 removals ICE recorded in fiscal year 2012 under the Obama administration , a longstanding agency benchmark. The new record also represents a nearly 78% increase over the 271,484 deportations recorded in fiscal year 2024, the final full fiscal year under President Biden.
ICE reported a total of 50,925 arrests in August alone, surpassing the previous monthly record set in July. By September, the agency was still conducting more than 48,000 arrests per month, according to DHS, reflecting a sustained and rapid pace of enforcement activity.
Nevertheless, a record number of reported deportations does not necessarily equate to a record number of formal removal orders carried out. ICE’s deportation figures do not encompass government-wide statistics, which include actions by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and distinguish between formal removals, voluntary returns, and voluntary departures. When broader measures are applied, nationwide deportation figures reached higher thresholds during portions of the early 2000s.
A new analysis published by Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) raised additional questions regarding how DHS calculates deportation totals. Drawing on case-by-case federal immigration records, researchers determined that formal removals accounted for just 63% of deportations recorded in July and August 2026, with the remainder consisting of voluntary departures and returns.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the brave men and women of ICE, who just broke more historic records,” said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin in an accompanying statement. “Fiscal Year 2026 saw the highest number of ICE deportations and arrests for any year in ICE’s history. September 2026 was the best September in ICE’s history in terms of arrests. The total number of ICE arrests in Fiscal Year 2026 was more than all three full fiscal years under Biden combined, as the patriots of ICE work around the clock to make America safe again. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, ICE has been unleashed to target and remove illegal aliens so that we can save American lives.”
The “worst of the worst” , and a broader reality
The Trump administration has consistently framed its enforcement campaign as a public safety mission, citing arrests and deportations of individuals accused or convicted of serious crimes , those DHS has repeatedly characterized as the “worst of the worst.” This commitment was also a central element of President Trump’s successful 2024 presidential campaign.
In its accounting of fiscal year 2026 deportations, DHS highlighted several notable cases, including that of Raul Genesis Ortiz Moran, a Mexican national charged with second-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault in connection with the death of a two-year-old girl in Virginia. The Louisa County Sheriff’s Office independently confirmed the charges.
The department also cited the case of Soili Xiomara Aparicio-Santos, a Honduran national deported in April who, according to DHS, was convicted of attempting to murder her newborn son in New York.
While these cases illustrate the serious public safety threats that immigration officers can encounter, they are not representative of the hundreds of thousands of arrests carried out during the fiscal year.
DHS has repeatedly maintained that immigrants without U.S. criminal records may still possess criminal histories in their countries of origin or may pose broader security risks. The department also consistently notes that violations of immigration law alone are sufficient legal grounds for civil arrest and deportation. However, federal authorities have not publicly provided comprehensive evidence demonstrating how many arrested immigrants without domestic criminal records have committed offenses abroad.
A CBS News analysis published in August found that in July 2026, for the first time during President Trump’s second term, more than half of all ICE arrests involved immigrants who had neither criminal convictions nor pending criminal charges. The same analysis revealed that approximately 6% of individuals booked into ICE detention during the second Trump administration had convictions for violent crimes.
Separately, the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute found that only approximately 20% of the roughly 980,000 deportations carried out collectively by ICE and CBP between January 2025 and July 2026 involved an individual with a criminal conviction. Among deported immigrants who had resided in the United States for at least two years, 71% had no criminal conviction on record.
Many Americans believe immigration enforcement has gone too far
According to CBS News national exit polling from the 2026 midterm elections, 58% of voters indicated that the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement had gone too far. An additional 22% said enforcement had been approximately right, while 20% believed it had not gone far enough.
While support for border security remains broadly high, it does not automatically translate into support for the specific tactics and operations used to enforce immigration law in cities and towns across the country.
In a “60 Minutes” interview, the president acknowledged that his immigration crackdown had exacted a political cost.
“I think it was too tough,” Mr. Trump told “60 Minutes” correspondent Ross Douthat.
The president added that his administration received strong marks for securing the border and removing dangerous criminals, but faced criticism for deporting long-term immigrants who held steady employment, worked in industries such as landscaping and hospitality, and in many cases contributed to the tax base.
Mr. Trump also expressed a willingness to collaborate with congressional Democrats in the incoming Congress to develop and pass comprehensive immigration legislation , a notable acknowledgment from a president who built a significant portion of his political identity around the promise of mass deportations.
A new White House chief of staff
As Stephen Miller , a longtime aide to President Trump who has historically advocated for higher arrest targets , assumes the role of White House Chief of Staff, multiple administration officials have indicated to CBS News that they do not anticipate any slowdown in enforcement activity following the elections.
In recent weeks, ICE officials have been directed to target approximately 19,000 arrests per week, according to sources familiar with the agency’s planning , a figure established prior to the midterm elections and considerably above the agency’s historical pace.
These targets come as Democrats prepare to assume control of both chambers of Congress in January, with some members signaling support for increased scrutiny of the administration’s immigration operations, expenditures, and enforcement methods. However, their capacity to compel meaningful changes may be limited by the billions of dollars already appropriated to ICE, as well as the president’s veto authority.
A sweeping tax and spending measure signed by President Trump in July 2025 allocated approximately $170 billion for immigration enforcement and border security, including $75 billion in supplemental funding for ICE. Of that total, $45 billion was designated to expand immigrant detention capacity, while nearly $30 billion was allocated for arrests, transportation, deportation operations, and additional personnel.
For years, President Trump’s immigration message rested on a premise that resonated deeply with millions of voters: that the United States needed to reassert control over its border and enforce its immigration laws with greater rigor.
However, the sharp decline in illegal border crossings and the surge in ICE enforcement activity have coincided with a notable shift in the broader political landscape.
The central question confronting President Trump in the final two years of his presidency is whether an enforcement campaign that has achieved unprecedented scale , by ICE’s own accounting , can retain the confidence of an American public that is increasingly divided over how the presidential mandate to crack down on immigration is being executed.
