U.S. Customs and Border Protection recorded more than 11,250 terrorism-related encounters at southwest border ports of entry during the first 11 months of fiscal year 2026. The Center for Immigration Studies argues this surge reflects stronger border enforcement.
The number is more than 100 times the Biden-era record of 103 in 2021. It also more than doubles the 3,700 such cases in 2025.
According to an analysis by CIS’s Andrew Arthur, the dramatic increase is a positive statistic for border security; it means that more potential “bad guys” are now getting caught.
“Counterintuitively, the dramatic increase is a positive measure of border security,” he wrote. “With illegal entries at historic lows, potential terrorists and other dangerous individuals are more likely to attempt entry through ports of entry, where CBP officers are positioned to identify and stop them.”
Arthur noted that the “catch and release” policy of the Biden administration encouraged more illegal immigration and strained Border Patrol.
In 2021, CBP Commissioner and former Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott explained some illegal entries were “scripted and controlled by Plaza Bosses that work directly for the transnational criminal organizations (TCO) to create controllable gaps in border security. These gaps are then exploited to easily smuggle contraband, criminals, or even potential terrorists into the U.S. at will. … Agents are spread so thin that they often lack the capability to make a timely interdiction.”
According to Arthur, “The insecure Biden border facilitated the illegal entry of criminals and ‘potential terrorists’ past overwhelmed agents and into the U.S. interior without them ever being encountered by CBP.”
However, the Trump administration reported 16 months straight of zero releases on the border last month.
CBP reported that the decline in illegal border crossings and apprehensions has reached levels not seen in more than 30 years.
Border Patrol predicts 98,000 southwest border apprehensions this fiscal year, compared with the 2.045 million in 2023.
Arthur argued the spike in terrorist-related apprehensions indicates “(1) with the border secure, bad actors are choosing to try their luck at the ports instead of entering illegally; and (2) port officers are now better positioned to stop them.”
