MINNEAPOLIS — The Department of Homeland Security disclosed Wednesday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported a record 483,200 people in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, the highest total in the agency’s 23‑year history. The figure represents a 9% increase over the prior high of 442,640 and a 78% jump from 2024, the final year of the Biden administration.
Trump administration’s immigration enforcement
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin praised the results, saying, “Thanks to President Trump’s leadership, ICE has been unleashed to target and remove illegal aliens so that we can save American lives.” The administration has framed the surge as a fulfillment of promises made during the 2024 campaign to rid the country of criminal migrants.
Critics question the data
Experts noted the lack of detail on how many deportees had criminal convictions. Marc R. Rosenblum, a visiting fellow at the Migration Policy Institute, acknowledged the record arrests but warned that “we can’t really see what’s going on in any kind of detailed way” because the DHS release omitted a breakdown of criminal histories.
According to the Deportation Data Project, only about one‑quarter of those deported this year had criminal convictions, with more than half facing no charges at all.
Comparison to past administrations
The 2026 total surpasses the 405,090 deportations recorded in 2014 under former President Barack Obama, a year some activists labeled him the “deporter in chief.” It also far exceeds the 271,480 deportations in 2024, the last year of the Biden administration.
Local impact and backlash
Earlier this year, a high‑profile ICE operation in Minneapolis deployed over 2,000 federal officers, leading to protests that turned violent. Two U.S. citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, were killed during confrontations with agents, prompting the administration to scale back large‑scale sweeps. While arrests dipped briefly after the incident, they quickly rebounded to record levels in quieter operations.
The immigration message has also affected voting patterns. Some traditionally Republican rural areas shifted Democratic in the recent midterms after residents saw longtime migrant neighbors—many essential farm and meat‑processing workers—detained.
Future outlook
The White House had set a goal of one million deportations annually, a target still far from reach despite billions in additional congressional funding for immigration enforcement. ICE’s record numbers demonstrate the administration’s commitment to a robust immigration enforcement strategy, even as critics continue to question the humanitarian and community impacts.
Original reporting: Sahan Journal — read the source article.
