# Illegal immigration down 67 percent under Trump **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 4, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781 "2017-04-04T23:41:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/1 "2017-04-04T23:41:25Z")
The main question is, how can the media spin this to be a bad thing? > **[Illegal immigration down 67 percent under Donald Trump: Former commissioner](https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/apr/4/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/)** > > Illegal immigration across the southwest border is down more than 60 percent so far under President Trump, officials revealed Tuesday, even before the first new agent is hired or the first mile of his promised border wall is constructed. “Testifying to the committee in a first hearing Tuesday, former Border Patrol Chief David V. Aguilar said the percentage may be even higher than Mr. Trump teases. Compared with 2016, he said, apprehensions on the southwest border were down 67 percent through March.” “Mr. Aguilar credits Mr. Trump, who has freed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to pursue illegal immigrants in the interior of the U.S. and vowed to tighten border controls.” ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/2 "2017-04-04T23:47:31Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > The main question is, how can the media spin this to be a bad thing? > > [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/apr/4/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/](http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/apr/4/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/) > > “Testifying to the committee in a first hearing Tuesday, former Border Patrol Chief David V. Aguilar said the percentage may be even higher than Mr. Trump teases. Compared with 2016, he said, apprehensions on the southwest border were down 67 percent through March.” > > “Mr. Aguilar credits Mr. Trump, who has freed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to pursue illegal immigrants in the interior of the U.S. and vowed to tighten border controls.” At the risk of being obvious, apprehensions down doesn’t necessarily mean illegal immigration is down. They could reduce apprehensions to zero simply by sitting on their asses. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/3 "2017-04-05T00:02:04Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > At the risk of being obvious, apprehensions down doesn’t necessarily mean illegal immigration is down. They could reduce apprehensions to zero simply by sitting on their asses. Check out this brilliance from the link. > [@](#): > > Mr. Aguilar said similar drops occurred during the Reagan administration after Congress passed a broad amnesty granting legal status to millions of illegal immigrants and promised to get tough on enforcement. Arrests down after making everyone legal. Who’d a thunk it? And this. > [@](#): > > Testifying to the committee in a first hearing Tuesday, former Border Patrol Chief David V. Aguilar said the percentage may be even higher than Mr. Trump teases. Compared with 2016, he said, apprehensions on the southwest border were down 67 percent through March. > > Mr. Aguilar credits Mr. Trump, who has freed U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to pursue illegal immigrants in the interior of the U.S. and vowed to tighten border controls. If agents are running around the interior, of course apprehensions at the border will go down. There’s no one there to arrest border crossers. If apprehensions are actually down that much, why are tighter border controls needed? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/4 "2017-04-05T00:08:55Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > If apprehensions are actually down that much, why are tighter border controls needed? Obviously because more people are getting through. What he really needs is a wall or something. That’d keep them out. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/5 "2017-04-05T00:48:20Z")
Trump has vowed to do a lot of things - what\* actual changes\* to border enforcement have occurred? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/6 "2017-04-05T00:49:43Z")
I was looking for a more mainstream site and found this. [https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-03-09/dhs-40-percent-drop-in-illegal-immigration-under-trump](https://www.usnews.com/news/national-news/articles/2017-03-09/dhs-40-percent-drop-in-illegal-immigration-under-trump) > [@](#): > > The tally of “illegal border crossings” – as measured by the number of people detained at the border or rejected as inadmissible to the U.S. – fell by nearly 40 percent from January to February compared to the same period last year, the agency said Wednesday. > > Immigration authorities have historically seen a 10 to 20 percent increase in illegal immigration during the same period. > > Smuggling costs have also apparently risen, the agency said, with “coyotes” hiking their fees from $3,500 to as much as $8,000 – a 130 percent increase – to bring people across the border. So yeah, it does seem like illegal immigration is down. I’m not sure if this is a permanent change or due to shock over the new administration. It may take a year or more to see if rates are going to stay lower. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/7 "2017-04-05T01:13:47Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Trump has vowed to do a lot of things - what\* actual changes\* to border enforcement have occurred? As pointed out, the actual change so far is that he has taken border guards away from the border so they could pursue illegals in-country. As a result, there have been fewer arrests at the border, most likely because, with looser security, they’re getting through. No information provided as to whether or not there is an _increase_ in detainees in-country. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/8 "2017-04-05T01:31:54Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > The main question is, how can the media spin this to be a bad thing? I have two opinions neither of which make this a bad thing, but together suggest that it’s shitty. 1. Illegal immigration is no big deal at all. People move across borders to find better lives for themselves, and that’s as human as anything. 2. Laws put in place to stifle that laudable motive are bad laws; the goal should be to allow to the maximum extent the free flow of people across borders while reducing crime and violence that might result. Doing so would require drastically different border control laws than what we have. Because the new administration is enforcing immigration laws in often draconian fashion, the decrease in illegal immigration is, not itself a bad thing, but not a good thing, and it is a symptom of a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/9 "2017-04-05T03:44:00Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Trump has vowed to do a lot of things - what\* actual changes\* to border enforcement have occurred? It doesn’t take any actual changes in policy to have an effect. The idea is that people that would have made an attempt to cross the southern border illegally don’t as much because they don’t know what the enforcement policies will be even a month from now. There isn’t as much incentive to risk their lives and money making an illegal border crossing if they are just going to get detained and/or deported soon after they get here. I don’t know if it is true or not but it sounds plausible based on the chatter I have heard coming out of hispanic communities. ---
**Author:** ![Okrahoma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90db22/32.png) [@Okrahoma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Okrahoma)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/10 "2017-04-05T03:47:28Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > I have two opinions neither of which make this a bad thing, but together suggest that it’s shitty. > > 1. Illegal immigration is no big deal at all. People move across borders to find better lives for themselves, and that’s as human as anything. > > 2. Laws put in place to stifle that laudable motive are bad laws; the goal should be to allow to the maximum extent the free flow of people across borders while reducing crime and violence that might result. Doing so would require drastically different border control laws than what we have. > > Because the new administration is enforcing immigration laws in often draconian fashion, the decrease in illegal immigration is, not itself a bad thing, but not a good thing, and it is a symptom of a bad thing. I asked “how can the media spin this to be a bad thing”? Do you think the big media will ever push the two ideas you outlined above? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/11 "2017-04-05T03:55:48Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > I asked “how can the media spin this to be a bad thing”? “Lax border patrols are letting illegal immigrants through.” ---
**Author:** ![CatandMouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@CatandMouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatandMouse)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/12 "2017-04-05T04:16:48Z")
Trump has made everything so shitty nobody wants to come here. I’m not surprised to hear illegal immigration is down. Tourism is also down, which certainly hurts my line of work. \*\*“International visitors spent about $250 billion in the U.S. last year, Sacks said. The U.S. will have about 4.3 million fewer foreign visitors this year thanks to Trump, which translates into $7.4 billion of lost revenue, according to his firm.” \*\* [https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-03-06/trump-s-travel-ban-threatens-to-deter-foreign-tourists-from-u-s](https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-03-06/trump-s-travel-ban-threatens-to-deter-foreign-tourists-from-u-s) I’m convinced that stupid wall Mexico is not going to pay for, is to keep all of us in, not out. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/13 "2017-04-05T04:18:46Z")
> [@Okrahoma](#): > > I asked “how can the media spin this to be a bad thing”? “Trump America Bigger Shithole than All of Central and South America Combined” ---
**Author:** ![CatandMouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@CatandMouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatandMouse)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/14 "2017-04-05T04:19:35Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > “Trump America Bigger Shithole than All of Central and South America Combined” Thank you. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/15 "2017-04-05T05:03:17Z")
“Wretched Refuse Refuse Wretch” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/16 "2017-04-05T05:11:23Z")
_“Wretched Refuse Refuse, Retch.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/17 "2017-04-05T05:26:14Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > _“Wretched Refuse Refuse, Retch.”_ Yes, that’s actually better, but occurred to me more than five minutes later. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/18 "2017-04-05T06:11:55Z")
This is no different than taking credit for corporate decisions that were already in the works since well before the election. These numbers are mostly true but the implication that this has anything to do with Trump’s still non-existent border wall or any changes to ICE priorities is just opportunistic credit taking on his part. Some of this was seasonal and is seen every year during the coldest winter months, and some was no doubt from people rushing the border to try to get in before Trump took office. [December through February historically have lower numbers](http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2017/mar/22/donald-trump/trump-says-illegal-immigration-down-61-percent-ele/) than September through November just due to weather and no other reason. > [@](#): > > It’s worth noting that this past fall there was an unseasonal increase of unauthorized border crossings, said Christopher Wilson, deputy director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center. > > People rushed to the border before Trump took over and implemented new policies, he said. > > “After that rush to the border, it’s natural to expect a decline,” Wilson said > [@Okrahoma](#): > > I asked “how can the media spin this to be a bad thing”? “Is corruption in the Trump administration enabling human smugglers to bribe US border officials in record numbers?” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/19 "2017-04-05T07:21:31Z")
What does someone living in Central America have to do to raise enough money for the _coyotes_? Eight grand is a lot of money to me, must be a fortune for them. Save all that, God alone knows how, then risk it all to hike across the Godforsaken Desert for the slim chance that you can become American. And our own people are too lazy and feckless to go vote, half the time. There just has to be a humane and decent way we can work this out for people like that. Maybe they can stay on the presumption they will not become voting citizens, but entitled to all the same civil rights we are. But the children who come here as children and are raised as Americans, its simply isn’t decent to send them to mean streets they don’t even begin to comprehend. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2017, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781/20 "2017-04-05T07:37:35Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Maybe they can stay on the presumption they will not become voting citizens, but entitled to all the same civil rights we are. So basically just like 50% of natural born citizens. 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/illegal-immigration-down-67-percent-under-trump/783781.md?page=2)