President Trump continues to deliver on one of his defining 2024 campaign issues — keeping our once-porous borders closed down tighter than that Monopoly guy.
Illegal crossings at the southern border fell to their lowest annual level in 60 years during President Donald Trump’s first full fiscal year back in office, according to preliminary federal data showing a dramatic decline from the record-setting numbers recorded during former President Joe Biden’s administration.
U.S. Border Patrol agents recorded 98,708 apprehensions between ports of entry along the southwest border during fiscal year 2026, which ended September 30, according to figures released by the Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection.
That works out to roughly 270 apprehensions per day across the entire southwest border, compared with an annual average of more than 1.8 million apprehensions, or about 5,000 per day, during the Biden administration.
DHS characterized the fiscal 2026 total as a 95% decline from the Biden-era annual average and said the 98,708 apprehensions were 60% lower than the 249,740 recorded during the Biden administration’s single highest month. The Financial Times reported Friday that illegal crossings from Mexico into the United States are now near their lowest level since 1968, while independent analysis similarly places the 2026 apprehension total at its lowest level since the late 1960s.
The numbers mark another significant decline from fiscal 2025, when Border Patrol recorded nearly 238,000 apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border, itself the lowest annual figure since the early 1970s. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin credited Trump’s immigration policies and increased enforcement for the decline, arguing that the administration had delivered on one of the president’s central campaign promises.
“President Trump promised the American people a secure border, and the data proves he delivered,” Mullin said, adding that CBP had recorded historically low numbers compared with the record-high levels reached during the previous administration.
The administration also reported another significant milestone: Border Patrol completed the entire fiscal year without releasing a migrant apprehended at the border into the United States. September marked the 17th consecutive month with zero Border Patrol releases, according to DHS, continuing a dramatic change from earlier periods when large numbers of migrants were processed and released while awaiting immigration proceedings.
“FY 2026 demonstrated what focused enforcement, strong partnerships, and the commitment of our frontline personnel can achieve,” CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott said. Nationwide encounters, a broader measurement that includes encounters at ports of entry and other locations, totaled 379,243 during fiscal 2026, according to preliminary DHS figures.
DHS said that figure was also the lowest annual nationwide encounter total in CBP history and compared it with an average of approximately 2.7 million encounters per year during the Biden administration.
The decline began shortly after Trump returned to office in January 2025 and has persisted, with Border Patrol recording fewer than 10,000 monthly southwest border encounters beginning in February 2025.
The administration has pursued a broad immigration crackdown that includes sharply restricting access to asylum at the southern border, expanding detention and deportation operations, restoring tougher enforcement policies and increasing pressure on Mexico to prevent migrants from reaching the United States.
Mexico’s own enforcement efforts have also contributed to the decline, according to migration experts – thanks to the Trump administration’s constant cajoling and use of the carrot and stick.
The drop has produced changes beyond apprehension statistics, with DHS reporting that migrant deaths identified by Border Patrol fell nearly 80% during fiscal 2026 compared with levels during the previous administration.
The latest figures continue a reversal from 2022 and 2023, when annual illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border exceeded two million and immigration became one of the dominant political issues heading into the 2024 presidential election.
Trump made border security and mass deportations central promises of his campaign, repeatedly arguing that tougher enforcement would deter migrants from attempting illegal entry in the first place.
Yeah, gas prices are too high and other consumables, but Trump’s continued border enforcement coupled with mass deportations will lead to an easing of prices for other goods and services, as well as ease the financial strain on our schools, hospitals, and other infrastructure. Give the man some credit.
