Trump's Crackdown On Families Isn't Stopping Them From Crossing The Border

Elise Foley and Roque Planas
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has overseen the Trump administration's recent effort to crack down on unauthorized immigration.  (Photo: Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg / Getty Images)
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen has overseen the Trump administration's recent effort to crack down on unauthorized immigration.  (Photo: Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg / Getty Images)

The Trump administration suggested on Thursday that its border crackdown, which led to thousands of children being separated from their parents, reduced the number of people coming to the U.S. without authorization.

But by the most important metric, the number of people arrested while traveling with their families, Trump’s widely reviled crackdown did almost nothing at all. The number of migrants traveling as families arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol dropped just 0.4 percent from May to June — when rising heat in the Southwest normally leads to a dip in the number of unauthorized crossings.

Over the last two months, the Trump administration mobilized the National Guard, implemented a zero tolerance policy requiring indiscriminate federal prosecution of border crossers and extended those prosecutions to parents traveling with children — all with the goal of deterring unauthorized immigrants.

The most notable drop in border apprehensions was at legal ports of entry, which includes asylum seekers and others seeking to enter the U.S. without attempting to cross illegally. The number of apprehensions of those immigrants dropped 27 percent from May to June.

The Department of Homeland Security included illegal border crossings and apprehensions at ports of entry when it announced numbers were down from May to June.

“Following the implementation of the Administration’s zero tolerance policy, the June 2018 Southwest Border Migration numbers declined by 18 percent when compared to the previous month,” DHS spokesman Tyler Houlton said in a statement.

Since early May, the Trump administration has been prosecuting as many cases of illegal border crossing as possible, including those of people who must be separated from their children for criminal proceedings.

In May, arrests for illegal border crossings went up slightly from the month before. In June, apprehension numbers dropped from about 51,900 to about 42,600 at the U.S.-Mexico border. As Customs and Border Protection noted in a separate announcement of the numbers, the drop from May to June “follows the overall downward trend for this time of year” ― something that went unmentioned in the DHS statement. The number of apprehensions at the southwestern border has fallen in the same period for four of the previous five years.

The apprehension numbers tell only part of the story because they include Border Patrol arrests and people who go to ports of entry and are deemed inadmissible — which includes asylum seekers and those seeking other kinds of relief. Border Patrol arrests dropped 15 percent, from about 40,300 in May to 34,100 in June.

In June, border officers apprehended about 8,500 people at ports of entry, down from about 11,600 in May. Some migrants and immigrant rights advocates alleged that border officers have been turning away asylum seekers rather than admitting them for processing, although the DHS has denied this.

Although the Trump administration has consistently described the border situation as a crisis, illegal entry numbers remain far from historic highs. Customs and Border Protection has apprehended 382,500 people crossing the border and at ports of entry since the beginning of the fiscal year, making it likely that this year will exceed last year’s historically low figures. Still, it’s in line with previous years and far below the peak of 1.6 million border arrests in 2000.

Also on HuffPost

April 2015

At an event hosted by Texas Patriots PAC: “Everything’s coming across the border: the illegals, the cars, the whole thing. It’s like a big mess. Blah. It’s like vomit.”
At an event hosted by Texas Patriots PAC: “Everything’s coming across the border: the illegals, the cars, the whole thing. It’s like a big mess. Blah. It’s like vomit.”

June 2015

At a speech announcing his campaign: "When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people."

August 2015

On NBC's "Meet the Press": “We’re going to keep the families together, we have to keep the families together, but they have to go." 
On NBC's "Meet the Press": “We’re going to keep the families together, we have to keep the families together, but they have to go." 

September 2015

On CBS's "60 Minutes": “We’re rounding ‘em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And they’re going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesn’t sound nice. But not everything is nice.”
On CBS's "60 Minutes": “We’re rounding ‘em up in a very humane way, in a very nice way. And they’re going to be happy because they want to be legalized. And, by the way, I know it doesn’t sound nice. But not everything is nice.”

November 2015

On MSNBC's "Morning Joe": “You are going to have a deportation force, and you are going to do it humanely." 
On MSNBC's "Morning Joe": “You are going to have a deportation force, and you are going to do it humanely." 

February 2016

At a GOP primary debate: “We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back ― some will come back, the best, through a process.”
At a GOP primary debate: “We have at least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. They will come back ― some will come back, the best, through a process.”

March 2016

At a press conference when asked if he would consider allowing undocumented immigrants to stay: "We either have a country or we don’t. We either have a country or we don’t. We have borders or we don’t have borders. And at this moment, the answer is absolutely not.”
At a press conference when asked if he would consider allowing undocumented immigrants to stay: "We either have a country or we don’t. We either have a country or we don’t. We have borders or we don’t have borders. And at this moment, the answer is absolutely not.”

April 2016

At an event hosted by NBC's "Today Show": “They’re going to go, and we’re going to create a path where we can get them into this country legally, OK? But it has to be done legally. ... They’re going to go, and then come back and come back legally.”
At an event hosted by NBC's "Today Show": “They’re going to go, and we’re going to create a path where we can get them into this country legally, OK? But it has to be done legally. ... They’re going to go, and then come back and come back legally.”

July 2016

At the Republican National Convention: "Tonight, I want every American whose demands for immigration security have been denied ― and every politician who has denied them ― to listen very closely to the words I am about to say. On January 21st of 2017, the day after I take the oath of office, Americans will finally wake up in a country where the laws of the United States are enforced."

September 2016

At a rally: “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country. Otherwise we don’t have a country.”
At a rally: “Anyone who has entered the United States illegally is subject to deportation. That is what it means to have laws and to have a country. Otherwise we don’t have a country.”

September 2016

On "The Dr. Oz Show": “Well, under my plan the undocumented or, as you would say, illegal immigrant wouldn’t be in the country. They only come in the country legally.”
On "The Dr. Oz Show": “Well, under my plan the undocumented or, as you would say, illegal immigrant wouldn’t be in the country. They only come in the country legally.”

Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.