ICE deportations hit fiscal 2026 high, DHS says, as Trump advances mass removal policy

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported 483,200 people in the fiscal year ending September 30, the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday. DHS described it as the highest annual total in ICE’s 23-year history. The increase came as President Donald Trump pursued mass deportations. The policy drew support and also triggered political backlash in last weeks midterm elections.

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ICE said the 2026 total rose 9 per cent from 4,42,640 a year earlier. The figure also marked a 78 per cent jump from 2,71,480 in 2024. That earlier period was the last year of Joe Bidens presidency. ICE had not published comparable annual counts since Donald Trump returned to the White House, including for 2025.

ICE deportations and DHS statement

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin praised the stepped-up enforcement in a quoted statement. "Thanks to President Trumps leadership, ICE has been unleashed to target and remove illegal aliens so that we can save American lives,\" said Mullin. DHS gave few other details. The release did not specify how many deportees had criminal histories or provide fuller tables.

Experts said the headline numbers may be correct but still lack context. \"It is accurate that ICE is making record numbers of arrests,\" said Marc R. Rosenblum, a visiting fellow at the Migration Policy Institute. Rosenblum also cited expanded capacity and outside help for ICE. \"But the sparse data in Wednesdays announcement means we cant really see whats going on in any kind of detailed way.\"

ICE deportations and criminal records

Trump campaigned on removing criminal migrants and often used the phrase \"the worst of the worst\". Available research suggested a different pattern in some months. In July, only roughly one-quarter of deportees had criminal convictions, according to the Deportation Data Project. More than half were not even facing charges, based on that dataset.

The annual total also remained below a stated White House target. The numbers released Wednesday fell well short of the goal of 1 million deportations each year. That target came after Congress provided billions in added funding. The extra money expanded parts of the immigration bureaucracy and supported faster removals.

ICE deportations and enforcement operations

After returning to power last year, Trump promised to end illegal crossings at the southern border. The administration tightened rules for legal and illegal immigration and accelerated deportations. Some operations were designed to be highly visible. Officials saw public actions as a way to pressure migrants to leave voluntarily.

The most dramatic change came earlier this year in Minneapolis. More than 2,000 federal officers were sent to the city. Thousands of protesters arrived as masked and often heavily armed agents moved in convoys of unmarked vehicles. Two US citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, both 37, were killed during confrontations with agents.

After the killings, the administration quickly reduced high-profile operations. Arrests dipped for a period and then returned to record levels. The renewed push relied more on quieter sweeps. By last weeks elections, the immigration message had fractured in some places. Even some Republican rural areas voted Democratic after arrests hit migrant neighbours.

ICE’s 2026 figure was the highest since 2014, when 4,05,090 people were deported under former President Barack Obama. Some activists then labelled Obama the deporter in chief. DHS also noted historical comparisons beyond ICE’s existence. The largest recorded deportation total was during President Dwight D. Eisenhowers crackdown, reaching 1.1 million in 1954.

DHS presented the new totals as a record for ICE, but key context was still missing. The agency did not release a detailed statistical breakdown or clearer definitions. Analysts also noted deportation totals can vary by counting method across years. The figures still showed a sharp rise since 2024, alongside political fallout and operational changes.

With inputs from PTI