How many U.S. citizens were arrested by ICE in the last year (FY2024)?

1. What ICE’s FY2024 report actually counts — and what it omits

ICE’s FY2024 Annual Report and ERO statistics document arrests of “noncitizens” and break out criminality categories (convictions, pending charges, or no convictions), but they report totals for noncitizens rather than identifying U.S. citizens who may have been arrested alongside or by other ICE components ^{[1] [2]}. The ICE news release accompanying the FY2024 report highlights 113,431 ERO arrests and that 71.7% were of noncitizens with criminal convictions or pending charges — it does not state a count for U.S. citizens arrested by ICE in that fiscal year ^[1].

2. Why a count of U.S. citizens is hard to find in available ICE data

ICE’s enforcement metrics and dashboards are organized around immigration status (noncitizen) and administrative versus criminal arrests; that framing inherently reports arrests of aliens rather than U.S. citizens, so a direct “U.S. citizens arrested by ICE” figure is not published in the FY2024 materials provided ^{[1] [3]}. Government data releases and third‑party compilations track book‑ins, removals, and arrests of noncitizens; the GAO has also urged ICE to improve reporting transparency and methodologies because exclusions in ICE’s published detention figures obscure the full picture ^[4].

3. Other public tallies and apparent totals — inconsistent and not focused on citizen arrests

Outside aggregations report different overall arrest totals for FY2024 — for example, USAFacts and other outlets compile combined ICE branch numbers (range cited by sources: 113,430 administrative ERO arrests and broader totals like 149,070 or higher depending on inclusion of HSI/criminal arrests) — but these figures still describe arrests of noncitizens and do not provide a U.S. citizen count ^{[5] [1]}. News outlets and researchers have emphasized changes in the composition of ICE arrestees (how many had criminal records) rather than documenting citizen arrestees ^{[6] [7]}.

4. Where U.S. citizens do appear in the record — anecdote, not aggregate

Some news items and ICE press releases note rare cases where U.S. citizens were implicated in investigations (for example, HSI criminal probes that can involve citizens and noncitizens), but those are case stories rather than a published aggregate of citizen arrests by ICE in FY2024 ^{[8] [3]}. Available sources do not provide a summed, authoritative count of U.S. citizens arrested by ICE in FY2024; the agency’s public tables and narrative center on noncitizen enforcement ^{[1] [3]}.

5. Competing perspectives in reporting and why it matters

ICE and its defenders frame FY2024 enforcement around prioritizing those with criminal histories — 81,312 of 113,431 ERO arrests were of noncitizens with convictions or pending charges ^[1]. Critics and independent analysts point to large shares of arrests involving people without convictions and call for clearer, more granular reporting; GAO recommended ICE strengthen its data reporting and transparency, arguing public numbers understate aspects of detentions and arrests ^{[4] [9]}. These competing emphases affect whether readers see ICE as focused on public‑safety targets or conducting broader sweeps.

6. Bottom line and recommended next steps for verification

There is no published, reliable single number in the provided materials for “U.S. citizens arrested by ICE in FY2024.” The FY2024 Annual Report and ERO statistics document 113,431 ERO arrests and characterize them by noncitizen criminality, not by arrests of U.S. citizens ^{[1] [2]}. To get a precise citizen‑arrest count, reporters should file a targeted FOIA or ask ICE/HSI and ERO for a breakdown of all arrests by citizenship status for FY2024, and compare that to GAO and independent datasets ^{[4] [10]}. Available sources do not mention a consolidated U.S. citizen arrest total for FY2024.