US deports nearly half a million migrants in a year as ICE arrests also hit a record
Nearly half a million migrants were arrested in the United States in one year, and almost as many were sent back to their own countries. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released the figures on Wednesday, saying the country had never before recorded so many arrests or deportations in a single year.
According to DHS, in the last fiscal year — from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026 — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) returned 483,200 migrants to their home countries. Over the same period the agency arrested more than 491,000 migrants. It is the highest number of arrests and deportations in the immigration agency's 23-year history. By comparison, ICE deported 442,640 people in 2025.
A day before the figures were released, President Donald Trump said on a CBS programme on Tuesday that his administration's immigration policy could be 'a bit tougher'. He claimed, however, that he was winning praise for removing criminals from the country.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in a statement that ICE arrested more than 48,000 migrants last September. Arrests had set records in each of the two preceding months as well, including a peak of 50,925 arrests in August.
Steven Camarota, director of research at the Washington DC-based Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), questioned the administration's figures. He said there was no doubt Trump had taken a tougher stance against migrants than any previous president, but the DHS data contained some ambiguity because the agency did not separately report arrests made inside the country and returns carried out at borders or airports.
Democrats, meanwhile, are preparing to move against Trump's anti-immigration drive after taking control of Congress next year. Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat expected to chair the House Homeland Security Committee, told Reuters in an interview that they would investigate the use of DHS as a weapon against Americans and the administration's uncontrolled immigration policy.
