Southwest Border Apprehensions Continue Their Big Decline

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Right now is no time to come up short.

It's time to fight like hell for a democracy where minority rule cannot impose an extreme and cruel agenda, where the Big Lie is called a Big Lie, where facts matter, and where accountability at the polls and in the press has a fighting chance. We have our work cut out for us, and we urgently need to raise about 400,000 by Thursday, June 30, to finish our fiscal year on track and give it everything we possibly can. Please help us get there with a donation if you can right now.

$1,150,000

$1,350,000

Right now is no time to come up short. It's time to fight like hell for a democracy where minority rule cannot impose an extreme and cruel agenda, where facts matter, and where accountability at the polls and in the press has a fighting chance. We have our work cut out for us, and we still need to raise upwards of 400,000 by June 30 to give it everything we can. Please help:

A few months ago I put up a chart showing the decline in Southwest border apprehensions during the first three months of the Trump administration. I was curious to see what it looked like after a few more months had passed. Here it is:¹

The downward trend in 2017 is unmistakable. But will it stick? The past decade is full of ups and downs. Border apprehensions dropped substantially from 2009-11, then dropped again in 2015, and now are down again in 2017. Roughly speaking, apprehensions dropped from about 70,000 per month to 30,000 per month under Obama, and have now dropped to 15,000 per month under Trump. That’s an 80 percent decline, and all without the benefit of a wall.

¹Data for FY 2000-16 here. Data for FY 2017 here. All lines in the chart are for calendar years.