The Trump Administration saw the number of attempted illegal border crossings drastically drop by 40 percent in just one year. According to the DHS report released Tuesday on final border apprehension numbers for calendar year 2017, the Obama Administration oversaw 614,739 border arrests in its last year, compared to only 351,084 arrests in Pres. Trump’s first year.
The total number of border apprehensions along the border tend to correspond to the number of illegal border crossing attempts. Thus, the reduced number signals that foreign citizens have become less likely to attempt to enter the United States illegally.
"U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions in Fiscal Year 2017 were at the lowest level in 45 years," DHS acting press secretary Tyler Houlton said in a statement.
“The final border apprehension numbers of 2017, specifically at the southern border, undeniably prove the effectiveness of President Trump’s commitment to securing our borders.
"This administration has overseen a 40 percent decrease in 2017 compared with the last year of Obama’s presidency."
Though the number of apprehensions at the border were much less in 2017, the number has increased in recent months. According to a recent CBP report, the total number of attempts went up by 16 percent, growing from 38,990 in Nov., 2017 to 40,513 in Dec. 2017.
Of the 40,513 who were apprehended last December, about 13,000 people were in family units, and a little more than 5,000 were unaccompanied minors.
This recent surge at the border comes at a time when Congress and the Trump administration have been working to negotiate a deal on DACA that will prioritize Border Security, ending Chain Migration and the Visa Lottery.
“The significant increase over the last month in the number of family units and unaccompanied children coming across the border illegally highlights the dire need for Congress to immediately adopt responsible pro-American immigration reforms,” Houlton said. “Current loopholes in our immigration laws have created an incentive for illegal immigrants who knowingly exploit these same loopholes to take advantage of our generosity.
"The Secretary will require fixes to these loopholes as part of any immigration package negotiated today at the White House.”
