The number of people who attempted to illegally enter the United States from Mexico dropped for a second consecutive month in July to 31,303, after peaking in May at 40,333, according to new Department of Homeland Security data.
Officials caught 34,095 people trying to enter the U.S. between official ports of entry in June. The July number showed an 8 percent drop from June, and a 22 percent drop from the May high.
DHS said the back-to-back monthly declines were the result of the Trump administration’s zero-tolerance policy, which was implemented in early May but was then suspended in mid-June.
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“In the month of July, we saw a decrease in illegal border crossings because human traffickers and Transnational Criminal Organizations were put on notice that this Administration was increasing prosecutions of those entering the country illegally,” DHS press secretary Tyler Houlton said in a statement, referring to the zero-tolerance policy. “Despite our terribly broken immigration laws, the administration has still been able to impact illegal immigration.”
In addition to those taken into custody for illegally entering the U.S., 8,650 people who tried to lawfully enter the country at a port were turned away. That number was higher in May, 11,500.
All told, slightly more than 40,000 people were either apprehended between ports of entry or were turned away at ports of entry in July, down from springtime totals of more than 50,000 each month.
But this year’s July numbers are up 56 percent compared to last July, when the “Trump effect” on immigration lowered rates to a 45-year low soon after he was elected.
Fiscal year 2018, which runs Oct. 1, 2017 through Sept. 30, has seen an increase of about 20 percent in illegal border traffic compared to last year.
Houlton added that the department is still continuing to refer single adults for prosecution at “historic rates,” though the number was not included in the press release and he did not respond to a request for specifics.
Border Patrol agents were told on June 20 only to send adults not from families to the Justice Department following a the implementation of the zero-tolerance policy, which had mandated CBP refer all adults, including parents, for prosecution.
