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Fact check: What were the total ICE arrests in 2024?
Executive Summary
The authoritative count of ICE-related arrests in federal FY 2024 reported by ICE is 113,431 total arrests, principally framed as 113,431 administrative arrests by Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) separately reporting 32,608 criminal arrests—figures that appear together in ICE’s FY 2024 Annual Report and related summaries [1] [2]. ICE’s reporting emphasizes that a large share of ERO arrests involved noncitizens with criminal convictions or pending charges (81,312 according to some summaries), and that removals and criminal-history breakdowns are substantial, including 271,484 removals and tens of thousands characterized as having criminal histories in the same reporting cycle [1] [3]. This synthesis presents the core numbers, the internal breakdowns published by ICE, corroborating fragments across documents, and constructive context about what the numbers do and do not show.
1. What ICE actually reported — the headline numbers that journalists used to frame the story
ICE’s FY 2024 Annual Report and accompanying materials present 113,431 as the headline figure for ICE arrests in 2024, repeatedly described as the number of administrative arrests carried out by ERO during the fiscal year [1]. The same report also presents a separate HSI tally of 32,608 criminal arrests, and clarifies that within ERO’s 113,431 there were 33,243 “at‑large” arrests—an internal categorization that ICE uses to distinguish certain enforcement contexts [2]. ICE’s own Spanish-language release reiterates these removal and criminal-history totals, offering cross‑language confirmation of the agency’s internal accounting for FY 2024 [3]. These are the primary, agency-published figures referenced in public reporting and government archives [1] [2].
2. The breakdown that matters — criminal histories, at‑large arrests, and removals
Beyond the single headline, ICE highlighted 81,312 ERO arrests of noncitizens with criminal convictions or pending charges in FY 2024 in multiple summaries, a number used to underline the agency’s stated focus on public-safety threats [1]. The annual report situates that figure alongside 33,243 at‑large arrests—suggesting that the ERO total comprises different operational streams—and with HSI’s 32,608 criminal arrests, which are counted in ICE’s criminal‑investigations portfolio separately from ERO administrative arrests [2]. ICE also reports 271,484 removals in FY 2024 and details that 88,763 of those removed had criminal histories and that 237 were identified as known or suspected terrorists, indicating the agency’s simultaneous tracking of removals and the subset with criminal or national-security flags [3].
3. Cross‑checks, corroboration, and the limits of relying on agency reports alone
Multiple items in ICE’s FY 2024 materials repeat the same numerical framework—113,431 ERO arrests, 33,243 at‑large arrests, 81,312 arrests involving criminal histories, and 32,608 HSI criminal arrests—which provides internal consistency across ICE’s releases and translations [1] [2]. This internal corroboration strengthens confidence that 113,431 is the agency’s official ERO arrest total for FY 2024, but it does not constitute independent verification by external agencies or auditors [1] [2]. Journalists and analysts should note that agency annual reports present an authoritative internal record yet are not neutral third‑party validations; ICE frames these statistics to reflect enforcement priorities and operational performance [1].
4. Important context ICE’s numbers omit or leave ambiguous for readers and analysts
ICE’s documentation aggregates different arrest types and lists criminal-history counts, but it does not provide uniform details about categorical definitions, overlap between HSI and ERO activity, or independent audit of methodology in the provided summaries, leaving room for ambiguity about comparability with previous years or other enforcement metrics [2]. The presence of both “administrative arrests” and “criminal arrests” in ICE’s reporting risks conflating distinct enforcement authorities unless readers examine the breakdowns closely—ERO administrative arrests reflect immigration enforcement actions and may include individuals without criminal convictions, while HSI’s criminal arrests derive from criminal investigations [1] [2]. Observers should therefore treat the 113,431 figure as a specific ERO administrative metric and not a simple tally of all enforcement encounters across DHS components without careful parsing [2].
5. Bottom line for readers, reporters, and researchers seeking accurate framing
The defensible, agency‑published answer to “What were total ICE arrests in 2024?” is that ICE reported 113,431 ERO administrative arrests in FY 2024, accompanied by HSI’s 32,608 criminal arrests and additional context including 81,312 arrests involving noncitizens with criminal convictions or pending charges, 33,243 at‑large arrests, and 271,484 removals with tens of thousands noted as having criminal histories [1] [2] [3]. For accurate reporting, cite the ERO versus HSI distinction, the criminal‑history subcounts, and acknowledge that these are agency‑reported figures; seek external audits or independent datasets when attempting trend analysis or cross‑agency comparisons to avoid misrepresenting the scope and nature of enforcement activity [2] [1].