U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehended fewer than 100,000 migrants at the southern border during fiscal 2026, according to newly obtained federal data, marking a dramatic decline from the more than 2.2 million arrests recorded during the Biden administration in fiscal 2022.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Illegal border crossings have fallen to their lowest reported annual level in nearly six decades, with U.S. Border Patrol agents apprehending 98,701 migrants along the southern border during fiscal 2026, according to internal Customs and Border Protection data obtained by The Washington Examiner.
The figures, covering October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026, represent President Donald Trump’s first full fiscal year since returning to the White House. The total is more than 95% below the approximately 2.2 million apprehensions recorded in fiscal 2022, former President Joe Biden’s first complete fiscal year in office.
Border Patrol agents averaged 8,225 arrests per month during fiscal 2026, compared with approximately 183,000 monthly arrests four years earlier. The figures indicate that agents encountered more migrants in an average month during fiscal 2022 than throughout the entire 2026 fiscal year.
The annual total was also substantially below fiscal 2025, when Border Patrol recorded approximately 237,565 apprehensions along the southern border.
According to the Examiner, the 2026 figures are the lowest in at least 59 years, although historical comparisons are complicated by differences in federal reporting practices.
In 1967, Border Patrol recorded 94,778 apprehensions nationwide. However, comprehensive historical data separating southern border arrests from other enforcement locations are unavailable for the entire period, preventing a precise comparison.
The latest figures were obtained from internal CBP records and had not been included in the agency’s publicly released year-end statistics as of Wednesday. Officials are expected to publish the data in the coming weeks.
The sharp decline follows sweeping immigration enforcement changes introduced after Trump returned to office in January 2025.
The administration implemented more than a dozen executive actions addressing illegal immigration, including restrictions on asylum processing, expanded deportation operations and renewed efforts to strengthen physical border barriers.
Trump made securing the southern border a central promise of his 2024 presidential campaign, arguing that stricter enforcement would discourage unauthorized crossings and reduce the number of migrants entering the country.
Border apprehensions began declining before his inauguration, a trend administration supporters have described as the “Trump effect.”
However, crossings had also fallen during the final months of the Biden administration following additional asylum restrictions introduced in June 2024.
The decline therefore spans policy changes under both administrations, although the reductions continued after Trump introduced more extensive enforcement measures.
During Biden’s presidency, large numbers of migrants entered the United States amid changing regional migration patterns, economic hardship and political instability in several countries.
The administration initially reversed or modified several Trump-era immigration policies, including suspending border wall construction and attempting to impose a temporary pause on certain deportations.
Critics argued that those decisions encouraged unauthorized migration, while Biden administration officials pointed to international displacement, economic conditions and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest apprehension totals measure migrants taken into Border Patrol custody between official ports of entry. They do not include every attempted crossing, undetected entry or encounter at a legal port of entry.
Nevertheless, the reported decline represents a significant change in the volume of unauthorized border crossings recorded by federal agents.
With fewer migrant apprehensions, Customs and Border Protection has also expanded attention to other border security concerns, including agricultural threats.
In a September announcement, the agency outlined its support for federal efforts to prevent the spread of the New World screwworm, a parasitic fly capable of causing severe injuries and death in livestock, wildlife and pets.
Working with the Department of Agriculture, CBP has facilitated 96 shipments of sterile flies and pupae from Panama through four Texas ports of entry.
The sterile insects are released to suppress reproduction among wild screwworm populations, helping reduce the threat to American agriculture.
As of August 16, federal agricultural officials had confirmed 47 screwworm cases, including 46 in Texas and one in New Mexico.
“By helping facilitate the timely movement of sterile flies, training frontline personnel, and sharing critical information, CBP is helping protect U.S. agriculture, animal health, and the broader economy,” said Suzette Kelly, a CBP deputy executive director for agriculture programs.
The reduced volume of border apprehensions has given federal authorities additional flexibility to address agricultural inspections, contraband interdiction and other cross-border threats.
For the Trump administration, the latest data provide another measure of the changes in immigration enforcement since January 2025.
While the full fiscal 2026 figures await official publication, the reported 98,701 apprehensions indicate that southern border arrests have fallen to levels not seen in decades, marking a substantial shift from the record-high migration pressures experienced earlier in the decade.
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