The total represents the highest annual figure in ICE’s reported history, surpassing the previous record of 442,640 in fiscal year 2025.
A Record-Breaking Year Under Trump
ICE reported a total of 50,925 arrests in August alone, eclipsing the previous monthly high set in July.
"Can you promise our viewers and the 77M people who voted for President Trump that there is no change in his immigration policy?"@SecMullinDHS: "Zero change… And amnesty will NEVER be on the table." pic.twitter.com/qh7kM1HzbU
Syracuse University’s Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, questioned how DHS counts deportations.
The Political Reckoning
The records show a defining feature of President Trump’s second presidency — a sweeping enforcement campaign reshaped by dramatic immigration policy. But they also arrive at a politically complicated moment.
INGRAHAM: But Trump promised mass deportations which are still wildly popular among Republican voters MARKWAYNE MULLIN: We haven't slowed at all. We're getting the drug bangers. pic.twitter.com/FMrlMkMW5A
“I think it was too tough,” Mr. Trump told “60 Minutes” correspondent Ross Douthat.
As Miller takes the helm, multiple administration officials tell CBS News they do not expect the crackdown to slow down. In recent weeks, ICE officials have been instructed to aim for approximately 19,000 arrests per week, a target substantially above its historical pace.
Voters Express Mixed Views on Immigration Enforcement Tactics
Another 22% said it had been about right, while 20% believed it had not gone far enough. While support for border security remains high, it does not necessarily translate into support for tactics used to enforce immigration law in American cities and towns.
“We have that right now.” “We did the job.” “Now let's figure out how to right-size our immigration issue.” “Let's figure out how to keep families together,” Rep. Tony Cárdenas, a California Democrat, said in remarks reported by The Guardian.
Despite widespread disapproval of ICE, Republicans retained a narrow advantage on immigration overall. The economy came first in voters’ minds, at 39 percent, followed by the state of democracy at 32 percent.
Trump Administration Defends Enforcement as Public Safety Mission
The Trump administration has consistently defended its campaign as a public safety mission, highlighting arrests and deportations of people accused or convicted of serious crimes. DHS has cited cases like Raul Genesis Ortiz Moran, a Mexican national charged with second-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault in Virginia, and Soili Xiomara Aparicio-Santos, a Honduran national deported in April who was convicted of attempting to murder her newborn son in New York.
But these cases are not representative of hundreds of thousands in arrests. That analysis also found approximately 6% of people booked into ICE detention had convictions for violent crimes.
Dr. Angela Kelley, Vice President for Immigration Policy at the American Immigration Council, said the current enforcement strategy is creating a climate of fear that is harming local economies and separating families who have contributed to communities for years.
What’s Next for Immigration Reform
In meetings and discussions since the elections, Democrats have begun pushing for immediate efforts to rein in the administration’s operation. A group of congressional Democrats is seeking to pass legislation like the American Dream and Promise Act, which focuses on providing legal pathways for “Dreamers,” and the Dignity Act, which couples strict border security with protections for undocumented people.
Henry Cuellar, a Texas border-area Democrat, expects to chair the House appropriations homeland security subcommittee in the new year. He said he has a list of guardrails to revert ICE to its role prior to Trump’s second term.
The Trump administration, however, appears undeterred.
Deportations will continue.
