US immigration authorities deported 483,200 people in the fiscal year that ended September 30, a record for the 23-year-old agency, the Department of Homeland Security announced this week.
The figure represents a 9 percent increase over the previous record of 442,640 deportations in fiscal 2025. It marks a 78 percent rise from the 271,000 removals in 2024, the final year of President Joe Biden's term. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also made 474,850 arrests during the period, nearly double the prior year's total. More than 48,000 arrests occurred in September alone.
President Donald Trump acknowledged this week that his administration's immigration crackdown may have been "too tough" and contributed to Democratic victories in last week's midterm elections. Despite the admission, he appointed Stephen Miller, the architect of the hardline policies, as White House chief of staff on November 8. Miller had overseen ICE raids in which two US citizens were killed in Minneapolis earlier this year.
Human rights organizations have criticized the operations. Amnesty International documented in a September report cases of racial profiling, intimidation, excessive force and lethal force during immigration operations. The group also cited overcrowded and unsanitary detention centers, inadequate medical care and restricted access to lawyers. Many migrants have been deported to third countries with which they have no connection, and denied the chance to challenge deportation orders in court.
The administration did not disclose how many of those deported had criminal records, breaking with previous practice of publishing detailed statistics. Mark Rozenblum, a former Department of Homeland Security official now at the Migration Policy Institute, said the lack of detailed data prevents full insight into the agency's activities. Data from the Deportation Data Project indicated that only about one-quarter of those deported in July had criminal convictions.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin praised the agency's performance. "I could not be prouder of the brave men and women of ICE, who just broke more historic records," he said. "The patriots of ICE work around the clock to make America safe again." Trump defended the removals in a CBS interview. "For getting people out, I get very high marks for getting the bad ones out," he said. "I get hurt because we also took people that had good jobs."
Democrats, who won control of both chambers of Congress in the November 3 elections, plan to target ICE when they take office in January. Representative Bennie Thompson, the incoming chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, said, "We will investigate the administration weaponising DHS against Americans and its out of control immigration policies." Senator-elect Peggy Flanagan of Minnesota said, "We will rip ICE apart."
