Former U.S. Border Patrol chief Raul Ortiz told CBS News that the U.S.-Mexico border has seen less activity, as preliminary federal figures show 98,708 apprehensions in fiscal 2026.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) put preliminary southwest-border apprehensions at 98,708 in fiscal 2026. DHS and CBP said the preliminary tally was 95% lower than the Biden administration figure they used for comparison.
The figure was higher than totals in CBP’s historical series: 62,640 in fiscal 1966 and 73,973 in fiscal 1967. An earlier EconoTimes review of CBP’s historical figures noted that both counts were below the fiscal 2026 figure. The current total therefore shows a steep drop against the agencies’ Biden-era comparison, but it is not the lowest among those historical figures.
Apprehensions are narrower than all unauthorized crossings.
Ortiz told CBS News that some Biden administration officials were “embracing the chaos and crisis” at the southern border.
