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The downturn came
after President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20 vowing to
deport many of the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants in
the United States.
The flow of illegal border crossings as measured by
apprehensions and the prevention of inadmissible persons at the
southern border dropped to 18,762 persons in February from
31,578 in January, Kelly said in a statement.
He said the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency, which
compiled the data, historically sees a 10 percent to 20 percent
increase in apprehensions of illegal immigrants from January to
February.
On Jan. 25, Trump ordered the construction of a wall along the
roughly 2,000-mile (3,200-km) U.S.-Mexico border, moved to strip
federal funding from "sanctuary" states and cities that harbor
illegal immigrants, and expanded the force of U.S. immigration
agents.
"Since the administration's implementation of Executive Orders
to enforce immigration laws, apprehensions and inadmissible
activity is trending toward the lowest monthly total in at least
the last five years," Kelly said.
(Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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