A curious thing happened on the way to beefing up U.S. border security: The Trump administration’s tough-on-immigration stance apparently is registering with border crashers.
The U.S. Border Patrol last month reported a sharp drop in illegal-alien apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border, down 40 percent from January, Investor’s Business Daily reports. This, after a 35 percent spike in illegals in the final months of the Obama administration.
In fact, February’s figure was lower than any other month’s in the past five years, according to Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. Also, the cost for so-called “coyotes” — thugs who smuggle illegal aliens into the U.S. — has skyrocketed in some areas by 130 percent, according to Mr. Kelly.
The decline in border crashers follows President Trump’s first executive order on immigration, even though most of the policies called for haven’t yet been implemented. The administration hasn’t yet hired thousands of additional Border Patrol agents or immigration officers.
Nevertheless, initial indications are encouraging. More importantly, “fewer people are putting themselves and their families at risk of exploitation, assault and injury by human traffickers and the physical dangers of the treacherous journey north,” Kelly said.
Immigration law enforcement is a far better option than offering amnesty or “catch and release” or other incentives to America’s border crashers.
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