Fueled by a surge in immigration arrests across the country, more than 65,000 illegal immigrants are currently detained at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facilities, according to the latest ICE data.
ICE has averaged nearly 1,200 arrests daily since Oct. 1, a record pace, which is also increasing the number of illegal immigrants in ICE custody.
ICE reported holding more than 65,000 migrants as of Nov. 15, marking a new record for the number of detainees in custody at once.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security released the figures Friday and shared an update on social media, writing, “Under the leadership of (Secretary Kristi Noem) @Sec_Noem, DHS is working rapidly to remove these aliens from detention centers to their final destination — HOME. Strong policies. Real results.”
Under the leadership of @Sec_Noem, DHS is working rapidly to remove these aliens from detention centers to their final destination — HOME.
Strong policies. Real results. pic.twitter.com/uk26zLRqwP
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) November 24, 2025
ICE had fewer than 60,000 in late September, prior to the government shutdown, and fewer than 40,000 were in custody in January when President Donald Trump took office, The Washington Times reported.
This latest data covers the fiscal year that began Oct. 1 to Nov. 15, and it’s the first released report since the start of the new fiscal year due to the government shutdown.
ICE is deporting illegal immigrants at an even higher rate, more than 1,250 daily, per The Washington Times.
If DHS officials can keep that pace for 12 months, deportations would exceed 450,000 for the entire year, breaking the record set in 2012.
However, it’s still half of the 1 million deportations per year goal set by the Trump administration.
“They need to ramp it up,” Rosemary Jenks, policy director at the Immigration Accountability Project, told The Washington Times. “There’s a big population that should be easier to remove, and we need to get to those and remove them. Americans are willing to support mass deportation, but it has to be mass deportation.”
Per ICE, from Oct. 1 to Nov. 15, the agency reported 54,735 book-ins, an indicator of overall arrests. U.S. Customs and Border Protection logged another 7,066 book-ins.
Under the Biden administration, CBP book-ins were dramatically higher than those of ICE. Both agencies were overwhelmed with illegal migrants flooding the border, and ICE could not focus on arrests or deportations in the interior.
With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, ICE has funding to hold up to 100,000 detainees and speed up deportations.
DHS and the Department of Justice have stepped up recruiting more immigration judges with several recent posts on social media.
“Are you a legal professional who loves America? Then come serve your country as an immigration judge!” Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar posted Monday on his own X account.
Are you a legal professional who loves America? Then come serve your country as an immigration judge!
Flexible hours, great pay, remote work available.
Go to https://t.co/xeGPjsPxuo for more details. pic.twitter.com/RBpiVI7lRY— Deputy Secretary Troy Edgar (@DepSec_Edgar) November 24, 2025
“END THE INVASION. If you’re a legal professional, join @TheJusticeDept as a Deportation Judge to defend your community and preside over cases in federal immigration court,” DHS recently shared on X.
END THE INVASION.
If you’re a legal professional, join @TheJusticeDept as a Deportation Judge to defend your community and preside over cases in federal immigration court.https://t.co/9Z1LOHSTds pic.twitter.com/dbRCpUnjlk
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) November 23, 2025
DHS has added several ICE processing and detention facilities nationwide, mostly in Republican-led states such as Florida, Indiana, Louisiana and Texas.
“With innovative partnerships like Alligator Alcatraz, Speedway Slammer, Louisiana Lockup, and Cornhusker Clink, we’ve significantly expanded detention space,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “Despite a rapid number of injunctions, DHS is working rapidly to remove these aliens from detention centers to their final destination — home.”
The Washington Times reported McLaughlin provided numbers that appear to differ from ICE’s published data.
DHS and ICE officials maintain that 70% of the illegal immigrants ICE has arrested have had criminal convictions or pending charges and that the administration is on pace for 600,000 deportations this year.
DHS also took to its X account to set the record straight on a report by CBS’ “Face The Nation.”
“WRONG. ~ 70% of illegal aliens arrested have pending criminal charges or criminal convictions. Does CBS really want us to release accused murderers and rapists back on the streets? But @FaceTheNation is right about one thing: our deportation operations are at a RECORD HIGH.”
WRONG. ~ 70% of illegal aliens arrested have pending criminal charges or criminal convictions.
Does CBS really want us to release accused murderers and rapists back on the streets?
But @FaceTheNation is right about one thing: our deportation operations are at a RECORD HIGH. https://t.co/JFQ044rfZe
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) November 24, 2025
That 600,000 figure appears to include CBP border ousters, which are not part of ICE’s formal removal numbers.
DHS officials have cited “self-deportations” as a means of meeting the 1 million deportation goal. They have claimed that 1.6 million illegal immigrants have returned to their home countries without formal removal, but “officials have been cagey about the source for that figure,” The Washington Times reported.
Jenks told The Washington Times that she is not sold without hard data, and that ICE still needs to ramp it up to reach 1 million removals a year.
“We need those numbers. If they’re not releasing them, then the assumption, logically, is they’re not good enough,” she said.
ICE and Border Patrol have moved into the interior of the country, launching major immigration sweeps in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Charlotte, North Carolina, as well as states including Indiana, Massachusetts, Texas and Oklahoma.
But the highly publicized operations in Democratic strongholds have prompted violent attacks on federal agents, ongoing protests and lawsuits to stop them.
In communities such as Los Angeles, Chicago and Charlotte, they have created “rapid response” networks to show up and assault and record federal law enforcement.
There also has been fierce resistance among residents, immigrant rights groups and activists, who frequently turn violent, use inflammatory rhetoric and call ICE arrests “kidnappings.”
Still, DHS officials have said they won’t back down and the immigration raids will continue.
“Sanctuary jurisdictions will not keep us from finding and removing criminal aliens preying on innocent people,” ICE posted on X Tuesday, resharing the arrest of Luz Garcia Celis, a Columbian woman convicted of fraud, theft and burglary by ERO Los Angeles.
Sanctuary jurisdictions will not keep us from finding and removing criminal aliens preying on innocent people.https://t.co/6RRPtzcSH7
— U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (@ICEgov) November 25, 2025
The Washington Times reported polling still shows people are in favor of mass deportations. A Harvard CAPS-Harris survey this month found that 54% of respondents supported the deportations of “all immigrants who are here illegally.” Nearly 80% of respondents supported the deportation of those who “have committed crimes.”
