Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deported 442,637 individuals between October 2024 and September 2025, according to data from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), far less than President Donald Trump's campaign promise of 1 million deportations.
Newsweek reached out to DHS for comment via email.
The data show an increase in removals compared with the previous fiscal year -- about 171,000 more people -- as the Trump administration has expanded enforcement operations, prioritized deportations, tightened border security, and clamped down on legal migration.
The figure, detailed in ICE's fiscal year 2027 congressional budget justification, represents the first full set of official deportation statistics released during Trump's second term and covers the final months of the Biden administration and most of Trump's first year back in office.
Despite the rise in deportations, the total fell short of Trump's campaign goal of removing one million people from the country per year. Nearly 38 percent of those deported, about 167,000 people, had criminal records, including individuals with convictions or pending charges, according to the DHS report.
In October 2025, after the fiscal year ended, border czar Tom Homan said ICE expected more than 600,000 deportations by 2026.
Ariel G Ruiz Soto, Senior Policy Analyst at the nonpartisan thinktank Migration Policy Institute (MPI) told Newsweek that the number of ICE-linked deportations were expected to increase.
"Combined, these trends demonstrate two key points: first, that the number of removals in FY 2025 were far lower than the Trump administration campaign target of a million deportations per year; and second, that the vast majority of immigrants removed by ICE were not the worst of the worst given that other than being in the country without a lawful status, they did not have a criminal conviction of pending charge," Ruiz Soto said.
ICE has characterized its enforcement strategy as focused on what it calls the "worst of the worst," a phrase repeatedly used by Trump officials to describe efforts to target immigrants with criminal histories.
Newsweek has revealed dozens of cases of immigrants without criminal records who have been detained by federal immigration agents.
The deportation figures were included in ICE's budget justification as the agency seeks funding for fiscal year 2027.
Even as removals increased, the agency has requested reduced funding in several areas for the fiscal year 2027 compared with 2026. Proposed cuts include a $751 million reduction in immigration detention and removal transportation budgets, which ICE attributes in part to additional funding provided by legislation passed in 2025. The agency has also reduced its request for officer overtime funding by $155 million.
The report does not include estimates for so-called "self-deportations," a term the administration has used to describe migrants who leave the country voluntarily amid stepped-up enforcement. DHS has claimed in press statements that more than two million people have self-deported; however, the budget documents do not provide supporting data or a methodology for calculating those figures.
ICE has said it intends to continue ramping up deportations in the coming year. The agency's stated goal for fiscal year 2026 and beyond is to reach one million deportations annually, according to the budget justification and several top administration officials.
The release of the data comes amid continued debate over immigration enforcement and funding levels as lawmakers assess DHS's budget requests and the administration's immigration agenda heading into the next fiscal year.