ICE Reports Record Deportations and Arrests for 2026

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, known as ICE, carried out 483,200 deportations in 2026, according to a report by Al Jazeera published on November 13, 2026. That total broke all records in the agency's 23-year history. Deportation is the formal removal of a person from a country. ICE is the federal agency responsible for enforcing immigration law in the United States.

The previous high was 442,640 deportations, set in 2025. The agency also made more than 491,000 immigration arrests in 2026.

Arrests varied from month to month. ICE made 50,925 arrests in August 2026 and more than 48,000 in September.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that Fiscal Year 2026 saw the highest number of ICE deportations and arrests of any year in the agency's history.