Homeland Security Extends Mass Influx Finding for Another 180 Days

The Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, has extended the Finding of Mass Influx of Aliens for another 180 days, preserving the emergency authority that allows him to enlist state and local law enforcement officers to perform immigration duties. The decision was published in the Federal Register of 21 September 2026 (Vol. 91, No. 181, Notices, pp. 59795–59797) as FR Doc. 2026–19253, filed on 18 September 2026.

The finding was first issued on 23 January 2025 by the Acting Secretary of Homeland Security and took effect immediately for 60 days, until 23 March 2025 (90 FR 8399, 29 January 2025). It has since been renewed four times, each for 180 days, by Secretary Kristi Noem: on 21 March 2025 until 17 September 2025 (90 FR 13,622), on 17 September 2025 until 21 March 2026 (90 FR 45,396) and on 21 March 2026 until 17 September 2026 (91 FR 14703). The new notice states that the extension follows a review of the current situation at the border.

The legal basis invoked

The Immigration and Nationality Act, at 8 U.S.C. 1103(a), provides that in the event of a mass influx of aliens off the coast or at a land border, the Secretary may authorise a state or local law enforcement officer, with the consent of the officer’s superiors, to perform the duties of immigration officers. Section 28 CFR 65.83 allows the Secretary to request assistance from a state or local government, and defines an “immigration emergency” as an actual or imminent mass influx beyond the existing capabilities of the Department of Homeland Security in the affected area (28 CFR 65.83(d)(1)); the factors to be weighed are set out in 28 CFR 65.81.

Mullin writes that circumstances continue to endanger the lives, property, safety or welfare of the residents of all 50 states, and that an actual or imminent mass influx of aliens is arriving at the southern border and requires a continued federal response.

The figures cited to justify the renewal

• U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 214,992 aliens between 1 March and 11 August 2026; 121,055 had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges, 452 were known or suspected terrorists and 2,700 were suspected gang members.
• As of 12 August 2026, ICE held 67,022 detainees against a maximum capacity of 80,700, an occupancy rate of 83%.
• As of 11 August 2026, 2,120,058 aliens were on the ICE non-detained docket with final orders of removal.
• In July 2026, U.S. Customs and Border Protection encountered 353 criminal aliens, made 750 criminal arrests and recorded 33 gang apprehensions; officers seized 24,996.19 pounds of illicit narcotics, including 969.57 pounds of fentanyl, 77 firearms, 11,652 rounds of ammunition and $859,890.84 in currency.
• 22 CBP officers and agents were assaulted in July 2026, while assaults on ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers averaged 38.5 per month from February to the end of July 2026, a 385% increase over February 2025.

Removals and the court ruling

The notice compares removal figures: ICE removed 485,930 aliens with criminal convictions or pending charges between FY 2017 and FY 2019, 158,931 between FY 2021 and FY 2023, 166,319 in FY 2025 and 215,447 between 1 October 2025 and 11 August 2026. It warns that without the extension ICE would have to divert bed space from interior enforcement priorities.

The text also acknowledges that DHS’s ability to control the influx “continues to be hampered due to a federal court decision”. On 1 August 2025 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit partially stayed an order enjoining Proclamation 10888, Guaranteeing the States Protection Against Invasion (90 FR 8333), in RAICES v. Noem; in April 2026 a merits panel upheld the district court in RAICES v. Mullin, 174 F.4th 81 (D.C. Cir. 2026). The notice also cites Matter of Yajure Hurtado, 29 I&N Dec. 216 (BIA 2025), on mandatory detention.

The renewal keeps in force, for a further 180 days, the legal gateway through which state and local police can be deputised for federal immigration enforcement — a mechanism tied in the notice itself to detention capacity, criminality data and officer safety, and one that remains under litigation.

Source: Federal Register, Vol. 91, No. 181, 21 September 2026, Notices, pp. 59795–59797 (official reference: FR Doc. 2026–19253).