- Formal removals made up 63% of deportations in July and August 2026.
Checked against ICE
The Department of Homeland Security announced on November 12, 2026, that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) set fiscal-year records with 483,200 deportations and more than 491,000 immigration arrests. The totals cover FY2026, which ended September 30, 2026.
The deportation figure is 9% above the previous agency high, 442,640 in FY2025. DHS also counted nearly 475,000 administrative arrests, meaning arrests over alleged civil immigration violations rather than criminal charges.
A separate agency tally put arrests at 474,850 in the most recent 12-month period. That figure is distinct from the DHS announcement’s total of more than 491,000.
The monthly counts also remained high near the end of the fiscal year. The agency reported more than 48,000 arrests and 44,000 removals in September; August’s arrest total was 50,925.
DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the year produced the highest arrest and deportation totals in the agency’s history. The figures describe an agency record, not every federal removal measure.
FY2026 is the latest period in the agency’s reported history. The annual comparison with FY2025 and the three-year totals cited by DHS gives context to the claim.
The deportation total topped the agency’s prior annual high
| Measure | FY2026 | Earlier comparison | Change or context |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deportations | 483,200 | 442,640 in FY2025 | 9% above the prior high |
| Deportations | 483,200 | 486,000 in FY2022–FY2024 combined | Nearly equal to the three-year total |
| Immigration arrests | More than 491,000 | Fewer than 427,000 in FY2022–FY2024 combined | FY2026 exceeded the three-year total |
DHS identifies FY2025 as the previous deportation record. Its release also compares the latest annual total with the combined numbers from FY2022 through FY2024.
A separate benchmark came from FY2012. DHS put that year’s removals at 409,849, making the FY2026 total roughly 18% higher.
The agency tally covers only part of nationwide deportation activity
The annual count covers the agency’s actions, not all federal immigration enforcement. Government-wide figures also include actions by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Broader nationwide measures reached higher levels in parts of the early 2000s.
The deportation total also combines different outcomes. A Syracuse University Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse analysis found formal removals represented 63% of deportations in July and August 2026. Voluntary departures and returns made up the remainder in those two months. That share applies to those months, not automatically to the full fiscal year.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, has noted that comparisons across administrations can differ because Title 42 expulsions were classified separately from removals. The distinction affects comparisons based on removal totals.
The annual figures do not identify arrestees’ criminal histories
The DHS release does not break down how many people arrested had criminal histories. A separate analysis of July 2026 found more than half of arrests that month involved people with neither criminal convictions nor pending charges. That monthly finding is not an annual breakdown.
Another analysis by the Migration Policy Institute examined a different group and period: deportations by the agency and Customs and Border Protection from January 2025 through July 2026. It found that about 20% of roughly 980,000 deportations involved people with criminal convictions.
Those figures use different time periods and populations. They do not supply a criminal-history count for FY2026 arrests. Watch future agency releases for a breakdown tied to the fiscal-year totals.
