Department of Homeland Security data seen by CBS shows that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement removed 483,200 people during fiscal year 2026, the largest annual total the agency has ever recorded. That total exceeds the prior high of 442,640 set in 2025, and stands far above levels seen under the former Biden government.
Arrest activity also reached new highs. ICE logged more than 491,000 immigration arrests across the fiscal year that closed on September 30. Of those, almost 475,000 were administrative arrests for civil immigration violations, setting another record. The single-month peak came in August, when officers made 50,925 arrests; activity remained elevated into September, with more than 48,000 arrests that month.
A Clear Jump from Earlier Benchmarks.
The 483,200 removals sit roughly 18 percent above the formerly record-setting 409,849 ICE recorded in fiscal year 2012 under President Obama and nearly 78 percent above the 271,484 logged in fiscal year 2024, the final full year of the Biden presidency.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the results demonstrated that ICE had been freed to focus on removing illegal aliens and protecting American lives. He noted that fiscal year 2026 produced the highest combined deportation and arrest totals in the agency’s history, and that the year’s arrests alone surpassed the combined totals from all three complete fiscal years under Biden.
Enforcement Priorities and Case Examples.
The Trump administration has stressed that its main efforts target threats to public safety. Among the cases highlighted by DHS are Raul Genesis Ortiz Moran, a Mexican national charged in Virginia with second-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault in the death of a two-year-old girl, and Soili Xiomara Aparicio-Santos, a Honduran national removed in April after a New York conviction for attempting to kill a newborn.
However, officials maintain that individuals lacking U.S. criminal convictions can still pose risks based on foreign records or other security concerns, and that violations of immigration law themselves provide sufficient basis for civil arrest and removal.
Continued Momentum.
The figures arrive as the White House maintains its emphasis on interior enforcement, with border crossings having been largely halted.
After the Republicans lost the House of Representatives and the Senate in the recent midterm elections, President Trump elevated Stephen Miller, who is closely associated with the administration’s most robust immigration enforcement measures, to Chief of Staff, suggesting deportations will remain a strong focus in the final years of Trump’s second term.
