US immigration agency ICE reports record 483,200 deportations in fiscal 2026

Deportation totals

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported on Thursday, 12 November, that it deported 483,200 people in fiscal 2026, which ran from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026. That figure is 9% above the 442,640 deportations recorded in the previous fiscal year and 78% above the 271,480 recorded in 2024, the last full year of Joe Biden's presidency. Europa Press reports that the total is eight times the 59,000 deportations recorded in Biden's first fiscal year. AP reports that ICE had not published counts this precise since Donald Trump returned to the White House, and the press release gives no breakdown of how many arrested people had criminal histories.

2024271,480

Fiscal 2025442,640

Fiscal 2026483,200

2024

271480

Fiscal 2025

442640

Fiscal 2026

483200

Data from the article text

Arrest figures and monthly pace

Arrest totals differ between reports. Europa Press and Politico put fiscal 2026 arrests above 491,000, while AP reports 474,850 arrests in the most recent 12-month period. Europa Press also cites 475,000 people held under administrative arrest. Arrests in the previous year stood at 239,890, and 113,430 in 2024. ICE said it made more than 48,000 arrests in September, ending a run of monthly records that reached 50,925 in August according to AP. Politico says the pace picked up over the summer and that the August count was nearly 51,000, breaking a July record. Europa Press and La Razón both put September deportations at 44,000.

How DHS frames the comparison

The department compared the total with earlier periods, and Spanish outlets describe that comparison differently. La Razón reports that DHS called the 483,200 deportations practically equivalent to the 486,000 carried out across fiscal 2022 to 2024, while Europa Press says the figure exceeds the three Biden years combined. El País reports that the total is about 18% above the 409,849 deportations recorded in fiscal 2012 under Barack Obama, a figure the agency treats as a historical reference. El País also says the published data contradict other sources, without naming them.

Political backdrop

Politico says the announcement came the week after heavy midterm losses for Republicans, in which many voters said Trump's immigration crackdown was too aggressive. El País reports that the midterm elections were held on 3 November and that Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress. Bloomberg describes the crackdown as a political liability for Trump after the Republican losses. In a statement accompanying the figures, Mullin credited the president for the agency's expanded reach.

“Thanks to President Trump's leadership, ICE has been unleashed to target and remove illegal aliens so that we can save American lives”

The statement presents the numbers as proof that the agency's operations are working, while the independent comparisons and the disputed arrest totals remain open questions in the reporting.