Last updated: 2026-10-19

US Border Encounters and Deportations in 2026: ICE, Detention and Removals

ICE's posted statistics show 356,389 removals in fiscal 2026 as of 21 July 2026 (ABC/GMA), while independent analysts count fewer removals for earlier periods than DHS and White House cumulative claims suggest. At the southwest border, Border Patrol apprehensions fell to 237,538 in fiscal 2025 and about 98,700 in preliminary fiscal 2026 figures (House Homeland Security brief; Voz). ICE detention peaked at about 73,000 in mid-January 2026 (DHS data reported by CBS).

Last updated 19 October 2026. Where DHS and independent counts differ, both are shown. Government claims are attributed and not endorsed.

Key figures

How many people has ICE deported in 2026?

ICE's posted statistics show 356,389 removals in fiscal 2026 (which began 1 October 2025) as of 21 July 2026 (ABC/GMA). The same ABC report says the pace is on track to exceed the 438,421 removals of fiscal 2013 under President Obama. A conservative analyst quoted in that report said the number is small relative to the size of the unauthorized population.

The American Immigration Council reported in April 2026 that ICE was routinely removing more than 30,000 people a month from detention. That pace could pass the 2009 record of 238,000 removals in a calendar year, while remaining well short of the administration's stated goal of one million removals a year (AIC).

TRAC, a data-research center at Syracuse University, counted 56,392 ICE removals in its early fiscal 2026 count "at the time of their report" (summary of TRAC). That is an earlier snapshot, not a full-year figure.

How do DHS and independent deportation counts compare?

They differ by more than 100,000 for fiscal 2025, because sources count different categories. The table sets government statements beside independent analyses.

Several of these figures were relayed through fact-check aggregators rather than taken from DHS documents, so the cumulative claims (605,000, 622,000 and 675,000) cannot be reconciled with one another from available sources.

Why the counts differ:

• "Removals" are formal deportations with an order. "Returns" occur without an order, often at the border. "Voluntary departures" and "self-deportations" are separate categories. DHS headline numbers combine categories, and its self-departure figures have no published methodology (Factually summary).
• The Deportation Data Project at UC Berkeley says it doubts ICE's own removals dataset, which counts removals, voluntary departures and some voluntary returns together (DDP).

How many people crossed the border illegally each year?

Southwest border Border Patrol apprehensions fell from about 1.5 million in fiscal 2024 to 237,538 in fiscal 2025. Fiscal years run 1 October to 30 September. CBP counts "encounters" as Border Patrol apprehensions between ports of entry plus Office of Field Operations inadmissibles, and in some periods Title 42 expulsions (CBP dataset description). The table mixes measures, so read the "Measure" column.

Full-year southwest border totals for fiscal 2020 through 2023 were not retrieved from CBP's data files for this page and are therefore not listed. The House Homeland Security Committee brief is a majority-party document citing CBP data.

Nationwide. There were 691,906 CBP encounters in fiscal 2025, down 76% from fiscal 2024 (House brief). CBP's preliminary count for fiscal 2026 is 379,243, described as the lowest in agency history and 88% below fiscal 2023 (Center Square). CBP announced these totals on 17 October 2026 without yet publishing September monthly data. DHS says September was the 17th straight month of zero Border Patrol releases (Center Square).

What are the monthly border apprehension figures for 2025-2026?

Southwest border Border Patrol apprehensions rose from a low of 6,076 in January 2026 to 10,011 in May 2026, then eased. CBP's statistics page lists Border Patrol apprehensions, not total encounters (CBP).

Source: CBP. September 2026 data was not yet published.

Total southwest border encounters, which include port-of-entry cases, are higher than Border Patrol apprehensions alone. For example, CBP reported 9,726 southwest border encounters in January 2026 against 6,070 Border Patrol apprehensions (House Homeland Security brief). November 2025 southwest border encounters were 10,960, down 88.4% from 94,183 a year earlier (House November brief).

The eleven monthly southwest figures above sum to 89,760, which is consistent with the roughly 98,700 full-year figure if September was near 8,900. That September number is an inference and is not published.

What changed at the border in 2025 and 2026?

The administration ended the CBP One appointment system on 20 January 2025, and courts have since ruled on asylum limits. Key programs and rulings:

• CBP One ended. More than 900,000 people had used the app since January 2023 and were generally paroled for two years with work authorization (CRS; PBS NewsHour).
• Asylum suspension. Proclamation 10888 suspended entry and access to asylum at the southern border on an "invasion" theory. On 24 April 2026 a 2-1 D.C. Circuit panel in RAICES v. Noem held the President lacked authority under 8 U.S.C. 1182(f) to override asylum procedures that Congress wrote (Law360; RAICES summary). A Supreme Court docket entry (No. 26-239) shows a brief in opposition filed 23 September 2026, indicating a government petition is pending (Supreme Court docket). One summary describes the ruling as narrower than the full affirmance reported elsewhere; the opinion itself should be checked.
• Metering. In Mullin v. Al Otro Lado the Supreme Court held 6-3 that a person "arrives in the United States" only on crossing the border, so people stopped on the Mexican side cannot invoke the asylum arrival provision (Wikipedia summary; UC Davis).
• National defense areas. Since April 2025 the administration has created military-controlled zones along the border. By September 2025 there were four, covering more than 510 miles in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas, with trespass charges filed against more than 1,300 people in New Mexico and about 1,400 in the El Paso area (Texas Public Radio). The Pentagon was reported in March 2026 to be adding zones near Yuma and San Antonio (SAN). Courts have dismissed many cases. One ruling dismissed charges against 98 migrants because the government did not prove they knew they were in a restricted zone, and a ProPublica analysis reported about 60% of such charges were dropped or dismissed (Texas Tribune; SAN).

How much money and staff does ICE have?

The reconciliation law signed on 4 July 2025 (Public Law 119-21) provides $170.7 billion for border security and enforcement, including $45 billion for detention capacity, according to the American Immigration Council (AIC).

Source: American Immigration Council.

Other tallies differ by what they include. One outlet cites $165 billion (SAN), and Axios reported more than $100 billion for ICE and border enforcement through September 2029 (Axios).

Hiring. ICE announced on 3 January 2026 that it had hired more than 12,000 officers and agents in under a year from more than 220,000 applications, taking total staff from about 10,000 to about 22,000 (KWTX; Officer.com). These are DHS figures, and no independent audit was found.

Leadership. President Trump announced on 5 March 2026 that Kristi Noem would leave as DHS Secretary. The Senate confirmed Markwayne Mullin 54-45 on 23-24 March 2026 (BAL).

How many people has ICE arrested?

ICE and CBP together made just over 43,000 arrests in June 2026, about 1,438 a day, the most in any month of the administration; sources told ABC the goal is 2,000 a day (ABC/GMA).

• The Deportation Data Project (UC Berkeley, using FOIA data) found ICE arrests grew about 4.4 times, and interior deportations about five times, when January 2026 (the peak) is compared with the last six months of 2024. Street arrests rose elevenfold and jail and prison transfers about doubled (Deportation Data Project, April 2026).
• Bookings into ICE detention reached about 46,000 in July 2026, the highest monthly figure of the administration, with 591,385 booked since January 2025 (Vera). TRAC counted 39,694 bookings in January 2026 and 32,531 in March (TRAC).
• Analyst Austin Kocher has flagged that fields such as arresting agency and apprehension type are unreliable in the released arrest data (Kocher).

Section 287(g) agreements let ICE delegate certain immigration functions to state and local officers. FWD.us counted 1,372 agreements across 1,169 agencies on 26 January 2026 (FWD.us), and KBTX reported 1,373 agreements covering 40 states on the same date (KBTX). A later third-party tracker lists a much higher total, which has not been confirmed against ICE data and is not used here. FWD.us estimated ICE could distribute $1.4 billion to $2 billion to local and state agencies in 2026 (FWD.us).

How many people are in ICE detention?

About 65,765 people were in ICE detention in July 2026, down from a peak of about 73,000 in mid-January 2026 (ABC/GMA; CBS).

What share of detainees have criminal records?

ICE reports about 60% with a criminal record, while TRAC reports about 70% with no conviction. The measures differ: one counts records including pending charges, the other counts convictions. Analyst Austin Kocher reported that 92% of fiscal 2026 detention growth came from people with no criminal convictions (Kocher).

Additional detention data:

• Vera says detention has exceeded the August 2019 all-time high on nearly every day since mid-June 2025, and that in July 2026 ICE used 469 facilities while its website listed 208 (Vera).
• Texas leads states in detainees, followed by Louisiana, California, Florida and Georgia (TRAC).
• About 180,701 people were monitored through alternatives to detention in April 2026 (TRAC).

Bond hearings. The Board of Immigration Appeals' September 2025 decision in Matter of Yajure Hurtado treats people who entered without inspection as ineligible for bond hearings. The Fifth and Eighth Circuits have agreed, while seven circuits, including the Seventh and Ninth, have rejected it. The Solicitor General has asked the Supreme Court to review the question (CRS; Bloomberg Government). No Supreme Court ruling was found as of this date.

What is self-deportation and how many people have left?

DHS claims 2.2 million "self-deportations" as of about January 2026, but the figure has no published methodology (Factually summary). DHS describes people who leave on their own as self-deported.

The CBP Home app, which replaced CBP One on 10 March 2025, offered $1,000 on verified departure (CRS). DHS later raised the stipend to $2,600, possibly temporarily (ABC7).

Independent estimates of the decline in the foreign-born population range from 1.4 million (Pew, January to June 2025) to 2.9 million (CIS, January 2025 to July 2026). These are survey-based and cannot separate removals, voluntary departures, lower arrivals and survey non-response (Pew; CIS). See immigration statistics for the population data.

What is the Alien Enemies Act case?

The administration invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act in March 2025 against Venezuelans it alleged belonged to Tren de Aragua, and the Fifth Circuit dismissed the main appeal as moot in August 2026, according to a secondary report (RedState, citing a Reason post).

• The Supreme Court in 2025 blocked removals without adequate notice and sent the merits to the Fifth Circuit (Yahoo/Court report; ACLU).
• The en banc Fifth Circuit heard the case after a September 2025 rehearing grant. In August 2026 it dismissed the case as moot because the government relied on other authority to remove the petitioners (RedState; Fifth Circuit docket opinion). The report of the mootness dismissal rests on a secondary source, and the opinion should be checked. No later Supreme Court filing was found.

What happened at CECOT, and what are third-country removals?

In March 2025 the US sent Venezuelans to El Salvador's Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT), and 252 were returned to Venezuela on 18 July 2025 in a swap for 10 Americans (CBS).

• An early report cited 238 men sent to CECOT (CBS).
• A "60 Minutes" investigation found most detainees had no criminal convictions, which the administration disputes (BDTimes/AAP).
• Judge James Boasberg ruled in June 2025 that the men were entitled to challenge their detentions, and in February 2026 that the government must provide a way to contest removals (PBS).
• He found probable cause for criminal contempt in April 2026. A divided D.C. Circuit panel halted the inquiry, and the full court was set to hear arguments on 29 September 2026 (Good Morning America). The administration denies violating his order. The outcome of the en banc hearing was not found.

Third-country removals. AP reported more than 40 deportees sent to Africa under agreements with at least seven countries, including Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and South Sudan (Washington Times/AP). Eswatini had received at least 19 people in three batches since July 2025, under a deal reportedly covering up to 160 people for about $5.1 million according to Human Rights Watch (Washington Times/AP). Eight men were sent to South Sudan in 2025 (Eye Radio). Uganda received its first flight under an agreement, and the Uganda Law Society said it would file challenges (People Daily). A consolidated total of third-country removals was not found.

How many people have died in ICE custody?

NPR reported 29 deaths in ICE custody in fiscal 2026 by mid-April, passing the previous record of 28 set in fiscal 2004 (WYPR/NPR).

• NPR counted 23 deaths since October 2025 by 10 March 2026, already more than all of fiscal 2025 (OPB/NPR).
• Detention Watch Network later cited 32 deaths in fiscal 2026 and 52 since the inauguration (DWN). That figure is undated.
• Counts for fiscal 2025 vary by source (25 versus 33 for calendar 2025). NPR found that ICE's own reporting page lagged.
• An official end-of-year total for fiscal 2026 was not located, and a separate advocacy page dated 24 September reported a lower figure ("at least 27 this year"), which conflicts with the NPR and DWN counts.

Related pages

• US immigration statistics: foreign-born and unauthorized population
• US immigration policy and court rulings
• ICE protests and unrest
• Somali communities
• World immigration overview
• Frequently asked questions