The Department of Homeland Security said Friday that Border Patrol made 98,708 apprehensions on the southwest border in fiscal 2026, which ended Sept. 30, a 95% drop from the more than 1.8 million a year it counts under the Biden administration. In its release, DHS called the figures preliminary and said nationwide encounters totaled 379,243, the lowest in agency history and 88% below fiscal 2023.
DHS also said the Border Patrol finished its first fiscal year with zero releases, with September the 17th straight month. It put drug seizures at nearly 1 million pounds, 63% above the four-year annual average, and said border deaths identified by the Border Patrol fell nearly 80% against the Biden years. The release links no datasets.
"President Trump promised the American people a secure border, and the data proves he delivered," DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said. "The results could not be clearer: strong enforcement works."
It is the lowest annual total since 1968, when agents recorded 96,641, according to a report carried by Yahoo that cites the DHS data, so the fiscal 2026 count is not a record. It covers only Border Patrol arrests between ports of entry, not all encounters, and annual totals topped 2 million in 2022 and 2023.
Analysts split on the cause. Adam Isacson of the Washington Office on Lat
