WASHINGTON, United States (CMC) – United States (US) Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recorded more than 491,000 immigration arrests and 483,200 deportations in the 2026 fiscal year, setting new annual records, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with Caribbean migrants among those affected by US immigration enforcement.

DHS, which oversees ICE, said on Thursday that the deportation figure surpassed the previous record of 442,640 set in Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25).

“FY26’s deportation total is almost the same as all three full fiscal years under the Biden administration (FY22, FY23, and FY24) combined, at 486,000,” the department said.

The figure is also more than eight times the number of deportations recorded in FY21, the first fiscal year of the Biden administration, when just over 59,000 people were deported, DHS said.

ICE made more than 491,000 arrests during FY26, including nearly 475,000 administrative arrests, which DHS described as the highest total in the agency’s history.

The department said the arrest figure exceeded the combined total of fewer than 427,000 recorded during FY22, FY23 and FY24, and was more than six times the just over 74,000 arrests recorded in FY21.

DHS said ICE made more than 48,000 arrests and carried out 44,000 removals in September, representing an increase of more than 300 per cent over the average September during the Biden administration.

August recorded 50,925 arrests, which DHS described as the highest number of people arrested by ICE in a single month. That surpassed the previous record of 50,208 in July and 43,900 in June.

The department did not provide a breakdown of the annual arrest and deportation figures by nationality or destination country.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the brave men and women of ICE, who just broke more historic records,” said DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin.

“Fiscal Year 2026 saw the highest number of ICE deportations and arrests for any year in ICE’s history,” he added.

Mullin said September 2026 was the agency’s best September on record for arrests, adding that the annual arrest total exceeded the combined figures for the three full fiscal years under the Biden administration.

“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.

He also claimed that more than three million migrants had left the United States under Trump’s leadership.

“As of October, we have now deported nearly 1.2 million illegal aliens and arrested over 1.25 million illegal aliens,” Mullin said.