Trump’s ICE Surpasses Biden’s Deportation Record in 2026
ICE under Trump sets new deportation and arrest records, surpassing Biden’s totals in just one fiscal year.
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Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recorded its highest number of arrests and deportations in its history during fiscal year 2026 under President Donald Trump, according to new data released by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on Thursday.
ICE made roughly 491,000 arrests and carried out 483,000 deportations during the fiscal year, which ran from October 2025 through September 2026, DHS said. The deportation total topped the previous record of 442,640, set in fiscal year 2025. Arrests exceeded the combined total from the three full fiscal years under former President Joe Biden.
ICE’s Performance Under Trump
The figures come as Trump weighs possible immigration negotiations with Democrats after Republicans lost control of both chambers of Congress in last week’s midterm elections.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the brave men and women of ICE, who just broke more historic records,” Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement. “Fiscal Year 2026 saw the highest number of ICE deportations and arrests for any year in ICE’s history. September 2026 was the best September in ICE’s history in terms of arrests.”
“The total number of ICE arrests in Fiscal Year 2026 was more than all three full fiscal years under Biden combined, as the patriots of ICE work around the clock to make America safe again. Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, ICE has been unleashed to target and remove illegal aliens so that we can save American lives,” Mullin said.
Trump’s Remarks on Immigration
The roughly 483,000 deportations nearly matched the combined total of roughly 486,000 recorded during fiscal years 2022 through 2024 under Biden, according to DHS. ICE made fewer than 427,000 arrests during those three years.
In a 60 Minutes interview that aired on Sunday, Trump said his deportation raids may have gone too far.
“I think it was too tough. I think it might be too tough, yeah. I think ultimately that hurt me,” he said.
Trump also said he would “love” to make a deal with Democrats on immigration that would entail giving some form of legal status to non-criminal illegal immigrants who are working and paying taxes in the United States.
Trump later insisted, “There’s NO AMNESTY … My policy hasn’t changed.”
Uncertainty on Future Immigration Policy
Mullin said Monday he is open to a deal that would give permanent legal status to DACA recipients, but he is unwilling to do an amnesty deal.
“We’re never going to allow amnesty to happen,” Mullin said. “Now, if we want to have an immigration reform to where we can look at DACA and figure out a way that these individuals can become maybe legal permanent citizens or something like this, that’ll be up to Congress.”
Source: Daily Wire
