Border arrests fall to lowest annual level on record, administration says

WASHINGTON — Border Patrol agents made fewer than 99,000 arrests along the U.S.-Mexico border in the 2026 fiscal year, the lowest annual total on record, according to preliminary government figures.

Agents assigned to the southern border arrested about 98,700 people who crossed illegally in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, according to internal Customs and Border Protection numbers first reported by the Washington Examiner. The Department of Homeland Security later put the figure at 98,708.

The total is more than 95% lower than the 2.2 million arrests the Border Patrol made at the southern border in fiscal 2022, the first full year of former President Joe Biden’s term. Annual apprehensions averaged more than 1.8 million during the Biden years, according to DHS.

No releases

DHS said fiscal 2026 was the first year in which the Border Patrol did not release any of the migrants it apprehended into the country. September marked the 17th straight month without such releases, the department said.

By comparison, the Border Patrol released 10,186 people along the southwest border in August 2024 alone, according to CBP.

Monthly arrests have stayed in a narrow band this year. CBP’s figures show 6,076 arrests in January 2026, a high of 10,011 in May and 8,870 in August. The August total was 94% below the monthly average under the Biden administration and 97% below the peak in December 2023.

Drug seizures up

CBP also reported seizing nearly 1 million pounds of drugs during the fiscal year, about 63% above the annual average for the previous four years, according to DHS.

CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott credited frontline agents and cooperation among agencies for the results. Officials have pointed to policies that end the practice of releasing migrants with future court dates, expanded detention and the deployment of troops along the border.

Fewer deaths, fewer rescues

The drop in crossings has also reduced the number of people put in danger in the desert and in the Rio Grande. Border Patrol’s El Paso Sector, for example, has reported a 99% drop in rescues and deaths compared with the 2021-2024 period, according to KVIA.

Questions about the numbers

The figures are preliminary, and some analysts caution that historical comparisons depend on how the underlying CBP data are counted. The department’s annual totals can be revised when final numbers are released.

Critics of the administration’s approach have argued that the low numbers come at a humanitarian cost, including the closure of asylum access at the border. Supporters say the results show that enforcement works and that the surge of recent years was the product of policy choices.

Political backdrop

Border security was one of the few issues on which voters gave Republicans an edge heading into the Nov. 3 midterm elections. In a Fox News Voter Analysis survey, immigration was the only issue on which Republicans led Democrats.

At the same time, polls this year have shown growing discomfort with interior enforcement and deportations, even as large majorities say secure borders are important. In a Reuters/Ipsos poll in April, 84% of respondents said it was at least somewhat important to have secure borders.

The new fiscal year began Oct. 1. CBP typically releases monthly figures in the middle of the following month, and the first numbers for fiscal 2027 are expected in November.

The southern border arrest total does not, by itself, measure all immigration enforcement activity conducted inside the United States.