Illegal border crossings drop 6 straight months
Administration says it still plans to step up enforcement
Illegal crossings along the U.S. southern border declined for a sixth consecutive month in April, even as the Trump administration continues its plans to ramp up immigration enforcement.
The number of people either arrested inside the U.S. or halted from entering the country at the border dropped to 15,780 last month, down by nearly 1,000 from March, when Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly cited “an unprecedented decline in traffic.”
Kelly has said the steep reductions stem from executive orders issued by President Trump, who has promised the construction of a border wall and the deployment of thousands of new agents to further curb the trafficking of illegal immigrants and drugs.
The DHS chief and Attorney General Jeff Sessions reiterated the administration’s commitment to bolstering border security as recently as last month, when both Cabinet officials traveled to border cities in Texas, Arizona and California for security briefings.
During a visit in April to Nogales, Ariz., Sessions announced a directive to federal prosecutors to bring felony criminal charges against immigrants suspected of multiple illegal entries. Cases of undocumented entry had been charged as misdemeanors.
“This is the Trump era,” Sessions said. “The lawlessness, the abdication of the duty to enforce our immigration laws and the catch-and-release practices of old are over.”
Sessions also has warned nine local governments that they could lose federal funding for supporting “sanctuary city” policies restricting cooperation with federal immigration enforcement efforts.
DHS spokesman Dave Lapan said Monday that the sustained declines in illegal border traffic also follow a U.S.-funded radio and billboard campaign in Central America, a recent source of thousands of illegals fleeing violence and poverty there, that warned of the dangers associated with the journey north and the consequences if they illegally enter the U.S.
“People in Central America are waiting and watching,” Lapan said.
Despite the drops in border traffic, Lapan said the administration remains committed to hiring 5,000 border agents, as outlined in an executive order issued by Trump in January. But he did suggest that hiring “goal” could be “adjusted as time goes on.”
Until then, Lapan said the DHS is moving forward with hiring. He said authorities were considering waivers of polygraph requirements for select candidates to accelerate recruitment and deployment of new agents.
Among those who might be eligible for such waivers, Lapan said, could be military veterans who already hold government security clearances.