DHS reports lowest fiscal-year border apprehensions on record for FY2026

Right · 2The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released preliminary figures showing Border Patrol recorded 98,708 southwest border apprehensions in fiscal year 2026, which ended on 30 September. 1 2 Right · 2DHS compares that with an annual average of more than 1.8 million during the Biden administration, a decline of about 95%. 1 2 Right · 2Fox News put the FY2026 figure at about 270 apprehensions a day, against roughly 5,000 a day on the Biden-era average. It also said the year's total was below half of the 249,740 apprehensions recorded in the Biden administration's single busiest month; Breitbart, citing DHS, put it at 60% lower than that month. 1 2

Right · 2DHS said Border Patrol completed its first full fiscal year with no releases of migrants into the U.S. interior, and that September was the 17th consecutive month without releases. 1 2 Right · 1Breitbart added that preliminary data show 379,243 total nationwide encounters in FY2026, the lowest in agency history. DHS compared that with 2.7 million a year under Biden and said it was 88% below FY2023, the highest fiscal year on record. Breitbart also said monthly apprehensions fell from a peak of 249,740 in December 2023 to about 8,900 at the end of FY2026. 2 Right · 2DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said, "President Trump promised the American people a secure border, and the data proves he delivered," and that "strong enforcement works." CBP Commissioner Rodney S. Scott credited "focused enforcement, strong partnerships, and the commitment of our frontline personnel." 2 1

Right · 1Breitbart notes that on the first day of Trump's second term he signed ten executive orders on the border and the Mexican cartels, including a national state of emergency. 2 Right · 1Fox News interviewed retired Yuma Sector Border Patrol Chief Chris Clem, who recalled daily arrivals in Yuma rising from about 25 in December 2020 to more than 1,000 by December 2021, and agents being "outnumbered, literally 100 to one." Clem credited stronger enforcement and the end of release, together with interior enforcement by ICE, for the decline. 1 Right · 1Clem also warned that the gains could be threatened by a Congress inclined to overturn the president's policies, through funding decisions and policy restrictions, or by a future administration. He said some people will always get through. 1

Right · 1Fox News also reported that border czar Tom Homan said ICE had recorded its highest single-day deportation total since Trump returned to office and more removals in September than in any other month. The post gave no totals, and Fox noted that ICE removals measure a separate part of the immigration system from Border Patrol apprehensions. 1 Right · 2The figures are preliminary, and the two outlets differ on timing: Fox says DHS released them Thursday, Breitbart says Friday. Both outlets are right-leaning, and the coverage includes no independent verification or critical response. 1 2