EXCLUSIVE: Illegal Border Crossings Collapse to Historic Lows Under Trump Policies as CBP Marks 16 Straight Months of Zero Releases

An unofficial report from U.S. Customs and Border Protection indicates that the number of migrants arrested after illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border between ports of entry fell by nearly 95 percent from the peak of the Biden border crisis. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced in September that Border Patrol released no illegal aliens into the U.S. interior. Breitbart Texas reviewed unofficial Border Patrol reports that revealed that approximately 8,900 illegal aliens were arrested in September after illegally crossing the border between ports of entry. This brings the total number of apprehensions during the recently closed-out FY26 to just under 137,000. Earlier this month, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott told Breitbart News that not a single illegal alien was released by Border Patrol into the interior of the United States after illegally entering the country. That brings the streak to more than 16 months since the Trump administration’s new policies on migrant releases went into effect. “It’s not out officially yet, but we’re going to report soon: a full year with no releases from the border,” Scott told Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle in an exclusive interview. In September, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin reported, “Sixteen straight months of zero releases at the border proves that President Trump’s policies are working. Catch and release is over, consequences are back, and illegal crossings have fallen to historic lows. This is what a secure border looks like.” In FY23, the peak year of the Biden border crisis, Border Patrol agents apprehended 2,475,669 illegal aliens along the U.S. southwest border who crossed between ports of entry. The Trump administration will report the FY26 year-end number to be nearly 137,000. This represents a 94.47 percent decrease, according to the unofficial report reviewed by Breitbart Texas. From FY23 to FY26, 2,338,969 fewer illegal aliens crossed the border illegally. During the first fiscal year of President Donald Trump’s second administration, American border security and immigration policy changed dramatically. The number of migrant apprehensions fell from 2,135,005 in FY24 to only 443,671 in FY25, according to official CBP reports. Another significant decrease came in the category of Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC). CBP reported that in FY23, 137,235 UACs were apprehended at the border. That number fell to slightly more than 7,600 UACs in FY26. Commissioner Scott told Breitbart that the UACs crossing under current policies are not being released to illegal alien parents in the U.S. or to labor traffickers as was done during the Biden border crisis. “Instead, they are being sent to the Department of Health and Human Services, where most are being processed for deportation back home,” Scott stated. The sharp reduction in human smuggling by Mexican cartels has a dramatic negative impact on their operations, the commissioner continued, telling Boyle: People miss this sometimes: The cartels need the illegal [migrants]. It’s a little extra money, but really they need them to overwhelm law enforcement at the border so they can bring the higher-threat commodities, whether it be narcotics, whether it be people that pay more money to avoid being fingerprinted, terrorists, criminals. But they need clutter to drive their costs down. Now they don’t have it … they’re not getting the [migrant customer] recruits they had before. The dramatic collapse in border apprehensions and the complete elimination of releases into the American interior mark a decisive end to the Biden-era border crisis. It is delivering a crushing blow to the cartel business model. By enforcing immediate consequences, detaining illegal border crossers, and processing unaccompanied minors for swift return to their home countries, the administration has stripped transnational criminal organizations of the human shields they relied on to overwhelm federal agents and smuggle high-threat contraband. As fiscal year-end numbers confirm a historical 95 percent drop in illegal crossings, the record demonstrates that decisive enforcement and structural policy shifts can secure the southern border and dismantle the cartel networks that exploit it. Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Before his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX. Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday morning talk show. He also serves as president of Blue Wonder Gun Care Products.