The US regime’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has claimed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) carried out a record 483,200 deportations and more than 491,000 immigration arrests in fiscal year 2026, surpassing the previous high of 442,640 deportations in 2025. The announcement, presented by Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin as an enforcement milestone, comes as President Donald Trump acknowledged the crackdown may have been “too tough” and as Reuters/Ipsos polling purportedly shows his immigration approval falling to 38 percent from 50 percent.
Key Takeaways: The US regime’s DHS claims ICE conducted 483,200 deportations and over 491,000 immigration arrests in fiscal 2026, with more than 48,000 arrests in September. The claimed total tops ICE’s previous record of 442,640 in 2025, but the data reportedly lack a clear breakdown between interior removals, border turnbacks and airport removals.
If independently verified, the figures would be the highest annual totals in ICE’s 23-year history and a sharp escalation under the US regime. The claimed surge has been accompanied by reports of increased out-migration and fear in immigrant communities, while Trump’s immigration posture has become a political liability; Reuters/Ipsos polling cited in the report purportedly places approval of his handling of the issue at 38 percent, down from 50 percent at the start of his presidency.
Mullin said in a statement that “Fiscal Year 2026 saw the highest number of ICE deportations and arrests for any year in ICE’s history” and that September 2026 was the agency’s best September for arrests. Steven Camarota, research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, told Al Jazeera that enforcement had increased more than under any prior president, but highlighted ambiguity in the DHS figures, saying it is difficult to determine what share were interior removals, border turnbacks or airport removals.
Trump, in an interview with CBS’s 60 Minutes, purportedly said that “a lot of people would say it is great but a lot of people would think it is too tough,” while defending his record by claiming high marks for removing “bad ones.” Democrats are preparing to challenge the US regime’s tactics when they take control of Congress next year; Bennie Thompson said lawmakers would investigate the “weaponising” of DHS, Henry Cuellar called for focusing deportations on criminals while saying Democrats would not be “extreme,” and Senator-elect Peggy Flanagan said, “We will rip ICE apart.”
The next phase is likely to be shaped by congressional oversight, litigation and Democratic efforts to expand legal status pathways, though the opposition’s room for manoeuvre remains limited. The US regime is presenting the numbers as proof of resolve, while critics and some researchers caution that the data are incomplete and politically contested. Debates over ICE tactics, interior enforcement and border removals are expected to keep immigration at the centre of US political conflict.
Source: www.aljazeera.com