OMITTED

What the news leaves out.

← Omitted front page

ICE Reports Record Arrests and Deportations Under Trump

6 sources · updated 2026-11-12
Markwayne Mullin
Photo: DHSgov / Wikimedia Commons · Public domain · file · licence
Left 17% Center 17% Right 67%
1 left · 1 center · 4 right

What happened

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reported that in the fiscal year from October 2025 through September 2026 it carried out about 483,200 deportations and more than 491,000 arrests, the highest annual totals in the agency’s 23‑year history. These figures exceeded the previous ICE record of 442,640 deportations set in fiscal year 2025 and were roughly 78% higher than the 271,484 deportations recorded in 2024, the final full year of the Biden administration. ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have highlighted that nearly 475,000 of these were administrative arrests for civil immigration violations, and that monthly arrests peaked at more than 50,000 in August 2026. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin credited President Donald Trump’s policies and a major funding increase enacted in July 2025 for enabling the enlarged enforcement campaign and described ICE personnel as working to "make America safe again." Independent analysts, drawing on federal data, have noted that ICE’s deportation statistics combine formal removals with voluntary departures and returns, and that formal removals made up about 63% of deportations in mid‑2026, with the rest falling into these less coercive categories.
Sourcing check · Fully on the record · 6 articles

6 of 6 articles cite a named source for the story. It was on the record from the first report.

What these terms mean and how they're counted
On the record · names a source 6 of 6
On the record means the article cites a source by name for the story's main claim: a person, or an institution speaking officially, such as a company statement or a named agency's spokesperson. The opposite is an unnamed source. The count is how many of the counted articles cite at least one such source; the names are everyone named across them, each once however the articles spell it. Here: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Markwayne Mullin, ICE and Department of Homeland Security
Primary evidence · cites a document or data 4 of 6
Primary evidence means the article cites a record you could check yourself: a court filing or ruling, a dataset or report, a recording or transcript, an official statement or press release, market data. A quote is not a document. The count is how many articles cite one. Here: agency statistics release, official statistics
Credits another outlet 0 of 6
The article says the story comes from another outlet's reporting (“first reported by Reuters”). Those articles relay the story; they are not independent confirmation. Here: Each article presents its own reporting.
Unnamed sources 0 of 6
The main claim is attributed to people who are not identified: “people familiar with the matter”, “officials said”. The count is how many articles do this.
How it developed
When the first report landed and whether it named anyone; when the first named source and the first document appeared. Here: First report Nov 11, 08:39 UTC by Breitbart, naming its source. First document the next day, from CBS News (official statistics).
Not counted 0
Opinion, analysis and video pieces, and articles too short to assess. Every count above is out of the counted articles. An article republished under a new headline is one article.
This is about who is cited, not whether the story is true. Each source below says what it names. How we count
Omitted — what each side leaves out

Unpacked

The biggest missing piece is who, exactly, is being swept up in these record ICE actions. Right-leaning coverage presents the surge as a public-safety win, repeatedly lauding ICE for removing "illegal aliens" and making America safe, but gives no breakdown of how many had criminal convictions. Left-leaning coverage notes that DHS did not release criminal-history data, yet stops there and does not tell readers what is known from other government records. CBS reports that in July more than half of ICE arrests involved people without U.S. criminal convictions or pending charges. It also cites research finding that only about 20% of recent deportations under ICE and CBP involved someone with a criminal conviction. Knowing that most targets lack criminal records changes how readers assess claims that the campaign is aimed at the "worst of the worst". There is also a striking language gap. Right-leaning outlets repeatedly use the term "illegal aliens," framing enforcement as almost heroic. Left-leaning coverage refers to "people" being deported and highlights the absence of crime detail, nudging readers to question the sweep of arrests rather than celebrate it. None of the coverage answers the basic question: how many of the record 483,200 deportations were long‑time residents with no criminal conviction beyond their immigration status?
Bottom line

Daily Wire and Breitbart hail ICE’s record 483,000-plus deportations as a safety victory, but neither side of the partisan press tells readers that most people caught up in the crackdown had no criminal conviction, a fact that could dramatically change how the campaign is judged.

The receipts — 2 facts one side's coverage lacks
  • Formal removals made up only about 63% of ICE-designated deportations in July and August 2026, with the rest being voluntary departures or returns. numberin cbsnews · absent from right-leaning coverage
  • A CBS analysis found that in July 2026 more than half of ICE arrests involved immigrants with neither criminal convictions nor pending criminal charges in the U.S. numberin cbsnews · absent from right-leaning coverage
The Left View
Left-leaning coverage describes the ICE statistics as a historic escalation of Trump’s immigration crackdown and stresses the sheer scale of the increase compared with the Biden years. It underscores that ICE and DHS released top-line arrest and deportation totals but did not provide the detailed breakdowns by criminal history that prior administrations routinely published, leaving unclear how many of those removed had serious convictions versus only civil immigration violations. The tone emphasizes concerns about transparency and accountability in how such a large enforcement apparatus is operating inside the United States, including in communities far from the border. By highlighting the absence of granular data and the context of Trump’s aggressive enforcement agenda, this coverage implicitly invites skepticism about official claims that the focus is primarily on dangerous criminals.
The Right View
Right-leaning coverage presents the record ICE numbers as a major success for President Trump and a sharp repudiation of Biden-era enforcement levels. These outlets stress that arrests in 2026 exceeded the combined total from Biden’s three full fiscal years and that deportations under Trump nearly matched those from 2022 through 2024, portraying this as evidence that ICE has finally been "unleashed". They consistently use terms such as "illegal aliens" and praise the "patriots of ICE," framing the surge as a law‑and‑order achievement that is making America safer. While they note Trump’s televised remark that earlier deportation raids may have been "too tough," they immediately pair it with his insistence that there will be "NO AMNESTY," casting any future talks about DACA or legal status as firmly bounded by a continued hard line on enforcement.
Our Take (balanced)
Supporters of the crackdown have a clear argument: the federal government is now enforcing immigration law at a scale they say was long overdue, with record ICE arrests and removals, billions in new funding, and a sharp contrast with what they characterize as permissive enforcement under Biden. For that camp, the strongest evidence is the year‑over‑year surge in arrests and deportations and DHS’s emphasis on removing people it depicts as threats to public safety. Critics focus less on volume and more on who is being targeted and how: CBS reporting and outside research show that only a minority of deportees have criminal convictions, that violent offenders are a small fraction of those detained, and that most recent ICE arrests ensnare people without U.S. criminal records, even as polls show a majority of voters believe enforcement has gone too far. The unresolved tension is whether a record‑breaking, largely indiscriminate interior enforcement campaign can be justified and sustained politically as a public‑safety mission when much of its impact falls on long‑settled, mostly non‑criminal immigrants rather than the "worst of the worst."

6 sources

More stories

The week's bottom lines, in your inbox

One email a week: the five stories that mattered and what they actually mean. Free.