Those who fear and loathe America’s president will wince at a new report indicating that the Trump Effect is working. Illegal border crossings are down over 40% since Donald Trump took office in January, a success rate that shows his efforts to tighten border security are working.
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said last Wednesday that the number of individuals sneaking across the southern border has dropped from 31,578 to 18,762 persons.
Via Fox News:
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U.S. Customs and Border Patrol … agents usually see a 10 to 20 percent increase in illegal immigrant apprehensions from January to February.
“The drop in apprehensions shows a marked change in trends,” Kelly said. “Since the administration’s implementation of executive orders to enforce immigration laws, apprehensions and inadmissible activity is trending toward the lowest monthly total in at least the last five years.”
These numbers have to be encouraging for the president, whose main focus during the election was building a wall and securing the border.
In January, Trump announced a series of executive orders providing the Department of Homeland Security “with additional resources, tools and personnel to carry out the critical work of securing our borders, enforcing our immigration laws, and ensuring that individuals who pose a threat to national security or public safety cannot enter or remain in our country.”
The news numbers suggest those orders are working. “The early results show that enforcement matters, deterrence matters, and that comprehensive immigration enforcement can make an impact,” Kelly said.
He added that analysis of this data will be critical moving forward.
“We will remain vigilant to respond to any changes in these trends, as numbers of illegal crossings typically increase between March and May,” he said.
Cross-posted at the Mental Recession
