Some immigrants who illegally crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and were arrested by Border Patrol have been released into the United States by the Department of Homeland Security despite the Trump administration’s claims that “zero” releases have occurred over the past nine months, according to four sources aware of the releases.
Although the number of border crossers let into the interior of the country is significantly smaller than it was during the Biden administration, that some illegal immigrants have been released into the U.S. at all appears to contradict President Donald Trump’s claim during the State of the Union address, as well as numerous statements by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, that no one had been let in since early last summer.
“In the past nine months, zero illegal aliens have been admitted to the United States,” Trump said to a round of applause from lawmakers at the State of the Union on Tuesday.
In just one year, President Trump’s effective immigration and border security policies have led to an all-time-low in illegal crossings at the southern border. The message is clear: America’s borders are closed to lawbreakers.
— Secretary Kristi Noem (@Sec_Noem) February 25, 2026
This is just the beginning. pic.twitter.com/3ocuVXTAbE
Noem stated in November, December, and January that “zero” people who crossed the border and were arrested had been released from custody and permitted to remain in the country.
Noem has also conflated releases with apprehensions. The DHS secretary stated during an August 2025 press conference that “we have had — for three months in a row — zero illegal aliens entering the United States.”
Sources did not deny that the Border Patrol, a part of DHS’s agency Customs and Border Protection, responsible for initially arresting people, had released anyone.
However, sources said it was DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement that has and continues to release an unspecified number of people from the border who are turned over to them from Border Patrol. The number of ICE releases under Trump is unclear.
“Dirty little secret that the [Trump administration] does not want getting out for obvious reasons,” the first source wrote in a text message. “There are in fact folks who are being released who recently crossed the border. … [Border Patrol] is not releasing anyone, but ICE is.”
Border Patrol is mandated by federal detention standards to limit the detention of immigrants to 72 hours after an arrest before turning that person over to ICE for longer detention pending removal.
Border Patrol may handle some removals of Mexican nationals, but ICE is responsible for the detention and removal of illegal immigrants.
When people are released by ICE, they are given either a paper that notifies them to appear in immigration court at a certain place and time regarding their unlawful entry or a document requiring them to go to a regional ICE office and notify them that they need to be added to the court docket.
A second source said immigrants who came over the southern border illegally are being released into the U.S. on a “case-by-case basis.” They continue to be placed into ICE’s Alternatives to Detention program, which may require wearing an ankle monitor to track their location while not in custody.
The Washington Examiner asked the DHS for comment. The DHS and ICE did not provide comment. White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said Trump’s record on the border had netted results but did not comment on his “zero” releases remark earlier this week.
“President Trump is right – thanks to his leadership the border has been totally secured in a short period of time,” Jackson wrote in an email Friday. “Under the Biden Administration, countless criminal illegal aliens were allowed to flood into the country. The Trump Administration has put an end to illegals being freely released into the interior. The American people are safer because of President Trump.”
CBP provided a statement from its commissioner, Rodney Scott, that stated over the past nine months, “CBP has not released a single individual who entered the country illegally into the interior.”
“The record is clear. We ended the Biden administration’s disastrous catch and release policies,” Scott said. “U.S. Customs and Border Protection stands by the accuracy of the information provided to the American people. Our reporting is grounded in operational data, vetted through established channels, aligned with DHS policy and federal law, and available publicly on CBP’s webpage.”
Scott, the former national chief of the Border Patrol, added that illegal immigrants in Border Patrol custody may be turned over to another agency or local law enforcement, to ICE, or the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement if the person is a child without a parent.
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, senior fellow at the American Immigration Council in Washington, said ICE’s quiet releases over the past nine months were a good sign, because it indicated that federal employees recognize there are cases where detention is not appropriate or possible.
“Every administration releases some migrants either because of logistical, diplomatic, or humanitarian reasons, and releases are not failures,” Reichlin-Melnick said in a phone call Friday. “Some people just shouldn’t be held in detention. There’s no good reason to do so, especially those with serious humanitarian or medical issues. That some people are still being released is a sign that, at least at the lower levels, the agency still acknowledges this fact despite what the leadership is saying.”
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Trump imposed a dozen executive actions related to immigration upon taking office in January 2025. The average of 100,000 to 250,000 illegal immigrants apprehended at the southern border per month during most of the Biden administration tapered down to less than 10,000 apprehensions per month in Trump’s first year.
House Republicans estimated that 5.3 million illegal immigrants, including possible asylum-seekers, were let into the U.S. under Biden.
