Fast facts about homeland security statistics
Homeland security statistics are easiest to read when you split them into the main operational layers: immigration enforcement, border processing, aviation screening, and cargo and port security.
The numbers in this dataset show a system that touches people, goods, and enforcement at enormous scale. Some figures are annual totals, while others are typical-day snapshots, but together they outline how wide the homeland security footprint is.
At a glance
- ICE removed 271,484 noncitizens in FY 2024 (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report).
- TSA screened more than 904 million people in 2024 (TSA 2024 By the Numbers).
- CBP processed 3.8 million de minimis shipments on a typical day in FY 2024 (CBP Typical Day FY 2024).
- CBP recorded 4,267 nationwide enforcement encounters between ports of entry on a typical day (CBP Typical Day FY 2024).
- ICE HSI seized more than 1.6 million pounds of narcotics in FY 2024 (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report).
- TSA intercepted 6,678 firearms at checkpoint screening in 2024 (TSA 2024 By the Numbers).
Homeland security statistics table: the biggest figures side by side
The clearest way to compare these homeland security statistics is to separate the agencies and the kind of work they measure.
| Agency | Statistic | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ICE | Administrative arrests in FY 2024 | 113,431 | ICE FY 2024 Annual Report |
| ICE | At-large arrests in FY 2024 | 33,243 | ICE FY 2024 Annual Report |
| ICE | Removals in FY 2024 | 271,484 | ICE FY 2024 Annual Report |
| ICE | Countries reached by removals | 192 | ICE FY 2024 Annual Report |
| ICE HSI | Arrests in FY 2024 | 32,608 | ICE FY 2024 Annual Report |
| TSA | People screened in 2024 | More than 904 million | TSA 2024 By the Numbers |
| TSA | Firearms intercepted in 2024 | 6,678 | TSA 2024 By the Numbers |
| CBP | De minimis shipments processed on a typical day | 3.8 million | CBP Typical Day FY 2024 |
| CBP | Passengers and pedestrians processed on a typical day | 1,150,387 | CBP Typical Day FY 2024 |
| CBP | Enforcement encounters between ports of entry on a typical day | 4,267 | CBP Typical Day FY 2024 |
What the ICE numbers show
The ICE figures in this dataset are the strongest window into the enforcement side of homeland security statistics.
ICE conducted 113,431 administrative arrests in FY 2024 and 33,243 at-large arrests in the same year (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report). Those two figures point to a large enforcement workload even before removals are counted.
Removals and destination spread
ICE removed 271,484 noncitizens in FY 2024 and those removals went to 192 different countries (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report). That destination count matters because it shows removals are not concentrated in a single corridor or region.
A few more ICE data points stand out immediately:
- 88,763 removals involved people with criminal histories (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report).
- 3,706 removals involved known or suspected gang members (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report).
- 237 removals involved known or suspected terrorists (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report).
- 8 removals involved human rights violators (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report).
Those figures show that ICE removals span a wide mix of case types. The dataset does not let you turn that into a broader claim about the overall population, but it does show the agency’s annual enforcement mix with unusual specificity.
Criminal-history arrests inside the ICE totals
One of the most useful homeland security statistics in the dataset is the breakdown of ICE arrests involving criminal histories.
ICE recorded 81,312 arrests of noncitizens with criminal convictions or pending charges in FY 2024 (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report). That represented 71.7% of ICE’s FY 2024 arrests (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report).
That is a major share, and the agency also reported 516,050 combined charges and or convictions tied to those arrests (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report). The largest listed charge categories were:
- 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
All of those figures are from the ICE FY 2024 Annual Report.
A useful way to read that list is not as a ranking of risk, but as an intensity profile. The dataset shows the arrests were not dominated by one offense type; instead, they covered a wide spread of violent and property offense histories.
Detainers, custody, and docket size
ICE ERO issued 149,764 immigration detainers for noncitizens with criminal histories in FY 2024 (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report). The report says that total was 19.5% higher than FY 2023 (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report).
A second custody-related number is even more revealing: ICE custody rose from 36,845 at the end of FY 2023 to 37,684 at the end of FY 2024 (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report). That is a small absolute increase, but it still signals a higher end-of-year custody count.
Meanwhile, ICE’s non-detained docket exceeded 7.6 million people at the end of FY 2024, and the docket grew about 24.6% year over year (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report). This is one of the clearest scale indicators in the dataset because it shows a much larger supervision and case-management universe than the detention figure alone.
Alternatives to detention and health services
Not all homeland security statistics are about arrests and removals. ICE also reported that its Alternatives to Detention Intensive Supervision Appearance program had more than 179,000 participants at the end of FY 2024 (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report).
The agency also provided medical and dental services to over 138,000 noncitizens during 1.3 million visits in FY 2024 (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report). The ICE Health Service Corps operating budget approached $421.5 million in FY 2024 (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report).
Those numbers matter because they show the homeland security function is not just enforcement. It also includes supervision and basic service delivery at scale.
TSA homeland security statistics: screening and detection
TSA gives this dataset a very different shape because the agency measures volume at the checkpoint.
TSA screened more than 904 million people in 2024 (TSA 2024 By the Numbers). That is the most immediately recognizable passenger-scale figure in the dataset, and it tells you how much screening work sits behind the airport travel experience.
Firearms and screening load
TSA intercepted 6,678 firearms at checkpoint screening in 2024 (TSA 2024 By the Numbers). The dataset also says 94% of the firearms found were loaded (TSA 2024 By the Numbers).
That pair of numbers is striking because the detection count is only half the story; the loaded-firearms share shows how frequently the agency encountered immediately hazardous items rather than inert ones.
TSA also screened 494 million checked bags and 2.1 billion carry-on bags in 2024 (TSA 2024 By the Numbers). Those two bag totals are useful context for the firearms figure because they show the scale of the screening environment.
Workforce and identity technology
Several TSA figures point to capacity rather than pure threat detection:
- TSA deployed more than 100 new explosive detection canine teams nationwide in 2024 (TSA 2024 By the Numbers).
- TSA enrolled 8,760 people in TSA PreCheck in 2024 (TSA 2024 By the Numbers).
- TSA added 3.3 million new TSA PreCheck members in 2024 (TSA 2024 By the Numbers).
- TSA added facial recognition technology to 1,407 Credential Authentication Technology identity verification units in 2024 (TSA 2024 By the Numbers).
- TSA cut attrition by nearly half in 2024 while building the largest screening workforce in its history (TSA 2024 By the Numbers).
Taken together, those points suggest an agency focused on both throughput and efficiency. The dataset does not quantify the operational effect of each change, but it does show the direction of travel: more screening capacity, more identity automation, and a larger workforce base.
CBP homeland security statistics: the typical day picture
CBP’s numbers are best understood as daily flow statistics, which makes them especially helpful for explaining what homeland security looks like in continuous operation rather than just annual totals.
Typical day at the border
On a typical day in FY 2024, CBP processed:
- 3.8 million de minimis shipments
- 1,150,387 passengers and pedestrians
- 88,582 truck rail and sea containers
- 270,800 incoming privately owned vehicles
- $9.2 billion worth of imported products
- 105,103 entries of merchandise
- $241 million in duties taxes and other fees
All of those figures come from CBP Typical Day FY 2024.
That cluster of daily numbers matters because it turns homeland security from an abstract policy term into a logistics problem. Every day involves people, vehicles, merchandise, revenue collection, and trade processing at very high volume.
Enforcement and interdiction on a typical day
CBP also reported daily enforcement and security totals:
- 4,267 nationwide enforcement encounters between ports of entry (CBP Typical Day FY 2024)
- 3,682 nationwide enforcement encounters at ports of entry (CBP Typical Day FY 2024)
- 86 wanted criminals arrested at U.S. ports of entry (CBP Typical Day FY 2024)
- 49 wanted criminals arrested between U.S. ports of entry (CBP Typical Day FY 2024)
- 16 rescues and significant medical lifesaving responses (CBP Typical Day FY 2024)
- 1,571 pounds of drugs seized (CBP Typical Day FY 2024)
- 60 pounds of fentanyl seized (CBP Typical Day FY 2024)
- $152,418 in illicit currency and other monetary instruments seized (CBP Typical Day FY 2024)
That list shows CBP working across border control, criminal interdiction, emergency response, and contraband seizures at the same time.
Trade, biosecurity, and specialized enforcement
Some of the most interesting CBP homeland security statistics are the ones that sit outside the most visible enforcement categories.
CBP stopped 55 shipments worth $15 million for intellectual property rights violations on a typical day in FY 2024 (CBP Typical Day FY 2024). It also discovered 247 pests and intercepted 3,586 materials for quarantine on a typical day (CBP Typical Day FY 2024).
Those numbers show how homeland security overlaps with commerce and agriculture. The agency is not just screening for people and narcotics; it is also blocking counterfeit goods, biological threats, and quarantine risks.
CBP intercepted 5 fraudulent documents on a typical day and 13 shipments worth $4.8 million under forced labor rules on a typical day in FY 2024 (CBP Typical Day FY 2024). It also flew 204 hours of enforcement missions and floated 91 hours of enforcement missions on a typical day (CBP Typical Day FY 2024).
That mix is important because it demonstrates how homeland security work is distributed across air, land, sea, and paperwork enforcement.
How to read these homeland security statistics together
The dataset mixes annual totals with typical-day measurements, so the smartest interpretation is to compare the scale of each agency’s mission rather than force every figure into one common denominator.
Three patterns stand out
- ICE is the enforcement-heavy immigration side. Its figures cover arrests, removals, detainers, detention, docket size, and service provision (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report).
- TSA is the screening and checkpoint side. Its numbers are about passengers, baggage, firearms, identity systems, and workforce capacity (TSA 2024 By the Numbers).
- CBP is the continuous-flow border and trade side. Its daily stats cover shipments, containers, vehicles, passengers, revenue, enforcement, rescue, and interdiction (CBP Typical Day FY 2024).
Those categories help explain why homeland security statistics look so different across agencies. One agency is counting case actions, another is counting checkpoint volume, and another is counting border flows and interdictions.
The most quotable facts in the dataset
If you need the shortest possible summary of the data, these are the figures that carry the most weight:
- 271,484 ICE removals in FY 2024 (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report).
- More than 904 million people screened by TSA in 2024 (TSA 2024 By the Numbers).
- 3.8 million de minimis shipments processed on a typical day by CBP (CBP Typical Day FY 2024).
- 7.6 million-plus people on ICE’s non-detained docket at the end of FY 2024 (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report).
- 6,678 firearms intercepted by TSA in 2024 (TSA 2024 By the Numbers).
- 4,267 CBP enforcement encounters between ports of entry on a typical day (CBP Typical Day FY 2024).
Practical takeaways from the numbers
For readers looking at homeland security statistics as a snapshot of government scale, the key point is not just the size of each number. It is the way the figures describe a system operating simultaneously at very different speeds.
- Annual ICE totals reveal enforcement scope, detention, removals, and case complexity (ICE FY 2024 Annual Report).
- Annual TSA totals reveal the size of the screening pipeline and the operational burden of airport security (TSA 2024 By the Numbers).
- Typical-day CBP totals reveal how much border and trade processing never really stops (CBP Typical Day FY 2024).
- Combined, the numbers show homeland security as a constant operations system, not a single mission with one metric.
- The strongest comparisons are cross-agency, not within one agency only, because each agency measures a different kind of workload.