New federal data show southwest border apprehensions at what CBP calls the lowest level in agency history, and candidates in Iowa and Texas are putting the border at the center of their closing Senate pitches.
Data as of Oct. 20, 2026, 6 PM ET
Border apprehensions by the U.S. Border Patrol along the southwest border totaled 98,708 in fiscal year 2026, according to preliminary data released Oct. 16 by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. CBP called it the lowest level in agency history and a 95% decline from the more than 1.8 million apprehensions per year it recorded under President Biden.
The fiscal year ran from Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2026. With the midterms two weeks away, the numbers are landing in the middle of Senate races where both parties are now campaigning on border security.
What the CBP numbers show
According to the CBP release, which the Department of Homeland Security also published:
- Total fiscal 2026 southwest border apprehensions (98,708) were 60% lower than the single highest month under the prior administration (249,740).
- Nationwide encounters, which include people stopped at ports of entry, totaled 379,243, which CBP called the lowest in agency history, compared with 2.7 million per year under President Biden.
- The Border Patrol recorded no releases for the full fiscal year. September was the 17th consecutive month with zero releases.
- CBP said it has completed 250 miles of new border barrier since Jan. 20, 2025, and obligated $34.3 billion for what it calls Smart Wall projects from September 2025 through September 2026.
- Drug seizures totaled nearly 1 million pounds, 63% above the 600,000-pound annual average of the previous four years.
- Border-related deaths identified by the Border Patrol fell nearly 80%, the agency said.
CBP’s monthly enforcement table shows the month-by-month pattern. From October 2025 through August 2026, monthly southwest border apprehensions ranged from 6,076 in January to 10,011 in May; CBP’s full-year total of 98,708 includes September. CBP labels the monthly figures preliminary and subject to change.
“President Trump promised the American people a secure border, and the data proves he delivered,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in the release.
The numbers mark a sharp turn from the debates of 2019, when the fight was over funding for a border wall and President Trump visited the border in McAllen, Texas during the government shutdown.
Iowa: Border Patrol union backs Hinson
In Iowa’s open Senate race, for the seat Republican Sen. Joni Ernst is leaving, the National Border Patrol Council endorsed Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson at an event in Urbandale, her campaign announced. The union represents roughly 18,000 people, The Gazette reported.
“Ashley Hinson has earned the endorsement of the National Border Patrol Council because she has fought to ensure that America’s borders are secure and our neighborhoods are safe,” council President Paul Perez said in the campaign’s release.
Hinson said in the same release, “Josh Turek puts illegal immigrants first. I will always put Iowans first.” Turek, the Democratic nominee, said at the Oct. 7 debate that he would work with anyone, including President Trump, to secure the border, according to The Gazette.
Texas: A Democrat runs against Biden’s border record
In Texas, Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico released an ad on Oct. 12 in which he says, “I called out Joe Biden for failing us on the border,” Fox News reported. Talarico faces Republican nominee Ken Paxton.
In a January 2019 interview with the Austin Chronicle, then-state Rep. Talarico said Texas was “sending about $800 million per biennium to the border with Mexico,” and added: “I’d rather take that money and put it back into public education and help increase the basic allotment, for instance.” In the same interview he said that “putting a bunch of boats, planes and border patrol agents on the physical border is expensive and also does not solve the problem.”
Fox News reported that the Talarico campaign could not point to an example of him publicly criticizing Biden during Biden’s presidency. Campaign spokesperson JT Ennis told Fox News that Talarico “supports stronger border security and immigration enforcement.”
Analysis: why the border is still on the ballot
With apprehensions at what CBP calls record lows, the border argument has shifted from whether the crisis is real to who gets credit for ending it and who can be trusted to keep it that way. Republicans are pointing to the CBP numbers as proof the enforcement policies work. Democratic nominees in Texas and Iowa are now running on border security themselves, and Republicans are answering with those candidates’ own records.
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