DHS Says “Catch and Release Is Over”
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin pointed directly to the administration’s enforcement strategy in announcing the latest numbers.
“Sixteen straight months of zero releases at the border proves that President Trump’s policies are working,” Mullin said. “Catch and release is over, consequences are back, and illegal crossings have fallen to historic lows. President Trump made a promise to the American people that he would make America safe again, and he has done just that by giving us the most secure border in American history.”
That is the message the administration has repeatedly sought to send to prospective migrants: crossing illegally no longer means being processed and released into the United States while awaiting a later immigration hearing.
CBP Commissioner Rodney Scott described the policy in similarly straightforward terms.
“Border security starts with knowing who and what is entering our country – and controlling it on behalf of the American people,” he said. “That means people who cross illegally are apprehended, detained and removed – not released into the United States. Our agents are enforcing that standard every day.”
The contrast with the Biden years is significant.
Congressional records show that southwest-border encounters repeatedly reached historic levels during the previous administration. In December 2023 alone, CBP recorded more than 300,000 encounters at the southwest border, according to figures subsequently discussed in Congress.
Congressional testimony also cited a House Judiciary Committee estimate that at least 3.3 million migrants had been released into the country after Biden took office as of early 2024. That figure was a committee estimate rather than a single CBP release statistic and included releases through different immigration-processing mechanisms.
August Numbers Continue the Downward Trend
The Trump administration says Border Patrol recorded 8,870 apprehensions in August 2026, approximately 5 percent fewer than in July.
Officials say the figure is also roughly 94 percent below the average monthly level recorded during the Biden administration.
That difference is difficult to miss.
Instead of facilities struggling to process enormous daily flows, the administration is now pointing to monthly totals that in some cases resemble what authorities encountered during particularly busy individual days several years ago.
Trump border czar Tom Homan made that comparison in June 2025, when monthly apprehensions reportedly fell to 6,070.
The administration argues that the change isn’t accidental. Its position is that detention and removal have eliminated one of the strongest incentives for attempting an illegal crossing: the expectation that apprehension could still result in release into the United States.
Drug Enforcement Takes Center Stage
The administration is also highlighting narcotics seizures as another component of its border strategy.
According to figures released by officials, drug seizures are up 73 percent compared with the corresponding fiscal-year period in 2024.
Officials reported that cocaine seizures rose 28 percent in August, reaching 6,724 pounds for the month.
CBP and ICE also reportedly seized more than 120,000 pounds of precursor chemicals during August.
Those numbers underscore a broader reality facing Border Patrol and other federal agencies: securing the southern border involves far more than immigration enforcement.
Agents are simultaneously confronting narcotics trafficking, human smuggling and sophisticated criminal organizations operating across international boundaries.
The administration’s argument is that fewer migrant crossings allow federal personnel to devote more attention and resources to those threats.
Trump Pushes Ahead With Border Wall Construction
Physical barriers are another major piece of Trump’s strategy.
The administration is moving forward with a multibillion-dollar construction effort involving 30-foot steel bollard barriers, vehicle barriers and additional surveillance infrastructure along portions of the southern border.
Border-wall construction was one of the sharpest immigration-policy differences between Trump and Biden.
Legislation introduced during the Biden administration noted that the federal government had paid millions of dollars to store unused border-wall construction materials rather than deploy them along the southwest border.
Trump returned to office promising to reverse that approach.
The administration says primary wall construction is expected to be completed by June 2027, followed by secondary barriers targeted for completion in the summer of 2028.
A Border Debate Transformed
The political argument over immigration has changed considerably from the chaotic scenes Americans watched during the height of the border crisis.
During the Biden administration, congressional records documented millions of southwest-border encounters, including more than seven million by early February 2024. Lawmakers also cited approximately 1.7 million known “got-aways” over that period.
The Trump administration is now presenting a radically different picture: dramatically fewer crossings, detention instead of routine release, increased removals and continued construction of physical barriers.
Critics will continue debating Trump’s immigration policies, particularly the administration’s detention and removal practices.
But the numbers cited by the administration have given the White House a straightforward argument to take to the American public.
For 16 consecutive months, officials say migrants apprehended illegally crossing the border have not been released into the country.
Trump promised consequences for illegal entry.
His administration says the latest border statistics show those consequences are fundamentally changing what happens at America’s southern border.
