The arrests of undocumented immigrants in the borders of the country fell 26.28% in 2017 with respect to the previous year, the lowest figure in 45 years, reported today the Customs and Border Protection Office (CBP, in English).
The total number of arrests that took place between January 1 and December 31, 2017 was 415,191, a figure substantially lower than that recorded in 2016, when 563,204 people were apprehended trying to cross the border, according to statistics released today by the CBP.
This fall points to a strong reduction in the flow of undocumented immigrants on the border, due to the dissuasion that led to the beginning of the presidency of Donald Trump, which has toughened policy regarding migration.
“The arrests by border police in 2017 reached their lowest level in 45 years,” CBP Acting Press Secretary Tyler Q. Houlton said in a statement.
As for the number of arrests carried out in the southern and western borders of the country, which separates the United States from Mexico, there was also a significant fall this past year, going from 408,870 in 2016 to 303,916 in 2017, which means a reduction of 25.73%.
Houlton acknowledged, however, that there had been a rebound in arrests during the last month of the year due to a series of “holes” that exist in the current legislation that immigrants use to “exploit” American generosity.
With 40,513 arrests of undocumented immigrants in the entire border network of the country, December is the month in which there was a greater number of apprehensions, while April was in the least, with only 19,940.
The spokesman stressed the importance of Congress to carry out “pro-US” reforms in immigration legislation to put an end to these “holes” that, he said, are an incentive for illegal immigrants.
Just today, President Donald Trump referred to these data during a meeting in the White House with about 25 congressmen and senators, both Republicans and Democrats, with whom he discussed, among other things, on the need to reform the country’s immigration policy .
“When we see what is happening, people get discouraged and do not come, Mexico should thank us,” the president said during the meeting, referring to his intention to toughen US immigration laws, expressed even before occupying the Oval Office.
