ICE releases Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Report

WASHINGTON — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement today released its Fiscal Year 2024 Annual Report, which highlights the agency’s primary missions of immigration enforcement and combating transnational crime.

In FY 2024, ERO worked to improve its operational efficiency through several modernization initiatives, continued its interior enforcement efforts, cared for all noncitizens in ICE custody, and delivered case management services to those on the non-detained docket while optimizing the agency’s removal capabilities to manage the large influx of border crossers.

“Every year, our workforce faces tremendous challenges — but every year, they meet those challenges head-on,” said ICE Deputy Director and Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Director Patrick J. Lechleitner. “I believe we have one of the most adaptable and agile workforces in the federal government. Our federal law enforcement officers, special agents, mission support staff and others are always tasked with doing more despite having fewer resources at our disposal, and their hard work and dedication to serving the American people truly keep this agency running smoothly.”

Enforcement and Removal Operations

As a result of ICE’s efforts, and despite ongoing resource constraints, in FY 2024, ICE removed more people without legal basis to remain in the United States than it did in any other fiscal year since 2015.

ICE continued to prioritize its enforcement resources by arresting noncitizens with criminal convictions or pending charges. Over 81,312 (71.7%) of the 113,431 arrests were of noncitizens with criminal convictions or pending charges. In contrast, 73,822 (43%) of the 170,590 noncitizens arrested in fiscal year 2023 had criminal histories.

The 81,312 noncitizens with criminal histories arrested had a combined total of 516,050 charges and/or convictions, which include the following serious and violent offenses:

• 57,081 assaults.
• 18,579 sexual assaults and sex offenses.
• 12,895 weapons offenses.
• 11,822 burglaries.
• 5,462 robberies.
• 2,894 homicides.
• 2,766 kidnappings.

During FY 2024, ERO arrested 3,032 criminals and assisted with 3,012 criminal indictments and 3,014 criminal convictions for violations of the U.S. Code, primarily under Title 8.

In the same time period, ERO issued 149,764 immigration detainers for noncitizens with criminal histories — an increase of 19.5% from fiscal year 2023, when it issued 125,358 detainers. Detainers are critical public safety tools that ask federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to maintain custody of a noncitizen for up to 48 hours beyond the time they would otherwise be released. This allows ERO to arrest noncitizens in safe, custodial settings.

ERO’s limited detention capacity was primarily used to house two populations in FY 2024: Noncitizens U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested at the southwest border and were subsequently transferred to ERO custody and noncitizens with criminal histories ERO arrested in the U.S. interior. The number of noncitizens in ERO custody increased from 36,845 at the end of FY 2023 to 37,684 at the end of FY 2024.

Of the 271,484 ERO removals, 88,763 (32.7%) had criminal histories. Of the 271,484 ERO removals, 88,763 (32.7%) had criminal histories. These include many serious charges or convictions for offenses, including the following:

• 47,885 assaults.
• 16,552 sexual assaults and sex offenses.
• 10,862 weapons offenses.
• 9,453 burglaries.
• 4,906 robberies.
• 2,699 homicides.
• 2,423 kidnappings.

Of the 271,484 individuals removed, 237 were known or suspected terrorists, a 70.5% increase compared to fiscal year 2023, and eight were human rights violators for an increase of 33.3% compared to fiscal year 2023.

ERO is committed to keeping people in its custody safe. This includes responding quickly and effectively to the medical needs of those in ICE custody. During fiscal year 2024, the ICE Health Service Corps operating budget approached $421.5 million, providing medical and dental health services to over 138,000 noncitizens during 1.3 million visits.

Most noncitizens remained on ICE’s non-detained docket, which by the end of fiscal year 2024 increased by about 24.6%, from 6.1 million noncitizens at the end of fiscal year 2023 to more than 7.6 million at the end of fiscal year 2024. The non-detained docket includes noncitizens who participate in ERO’s Alternatives to Detention-Intensive Supervision Appearance program, which tallied more than 179,000 participants at the end of FY 2024. The ATD-ISAP program provides an additional layer of supervision to ensure compliance with release conditions for certain adult noncitizens.

Homeland Security Investigations

Using its unique border authorities and international partnerships, Homeland Security Investigations made significant contributions to the U.S. government efforts against transnational crime. In fiscal year 2024, HSI made 32,608 arrests, identified and/or assisted 1,783 victims of child exploitation, and assisted 818 human trafficking victims. Additionally, it seized $886 million in criminally derived currency and assets and over $192 million in virtual currency, dealing a significant blow to TCO operations and criminals seeking to profit from illicit crimes.

HSI continued to play a key role in the U.S. government’s efforts to combat the opioid epidemic and seized more than 1.6 million pounds of narcotics in FY 2024 — including 42,800 pounds of fentanyl, pills and other lethal substances — through law enforcement initiatives such as Operation High Capacity, which resulted in the seizure of over 3,500 pounds of fentanyl and associated chemicals, over 800,000 pills and 13 pill presses. In FY 2024, HSI received three White House Office of National Drug Control Policy awards.

HSI plays a pivotal role in the fight against online child exploitation. In April 2024, the DHS Cyber Crimes Center launched the Know2Protect campaign to prevent and combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse by raising public awareness, providing reporting instructions, and sharing resources for victims. In partnership with several professional sports leagues and tech companies, K2P made significant progress in raising public awareness of online child exploitation.

HSI continued to disrupt and dismantle the human smuggling networks that exploit and endanger migrants attempting to illegally enter the United States. HSI is the lead agency in nearly all Joint Task Force Alpha-supported human smuggling investigations. JTFA is a law enforcement effort between the Department of Justice and DHS against human smuggling networks. In fiscal year 2024, JTFA efforts resulted in about 68 criminal arrests and 25 convictions, and it seized about $1.3 million in currency and assets.

HSI also targeted all aspects of transnational criminal organizations by shutting down dark web vendors, denying cartels the firearms and illicit proceeds that fuel their operations, and collaborating with law enforcement partners across the United States and around the world to dismantle the criminal networks.

HSI’s partnership with 600 foreign law enforcement personnel assigned to 14 Transnational Criminal Investigative Units in 17 countries resulted in 2,382 criminal arrests and millions seized in illegal narcotics, firearms, real estate, U.S. currency, virtual currency, and other forms of criminal proceeds and assets.

Source: U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE.gov)