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Trump falsely claims a 40 Percent decrease in illegal border crossings

(Fact Check of the Day)

— President Donald Trump, during a discussion on Wednesday about sanctuary cities

THE FACTS:

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False.

The latest data from Customs and Border Protection shows that illegal border crossings — which are usually measured as apprehensions on the southern border — actually increased during the last few months.

The agency recorded 38,234 apprehensions on the southern border in April. That’s a 2 percent increase from March, and three times the number of crossings recorded in April 2017. (Experts typically recommend looking at year-to-year changes because border crossings fluctuate by season.)

The latest April figures are marginally higher than, but roughly the same as, the number of crossings in April 2016, and about 30 percent higher than the number recorded in April 2015.

When Trump has made various claims about a decline in illegal border crossings in the past, he has tended to selectively choose points of time that showed the most drastic drops. His claim Wednesday about a 40 percent decline was no different.

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Border crossings did decline by 26 percent from the 2016 fiscal year to the 2017 fiscal year, and by 43 percent from the 2016 calendar year to the 2017 calendar year. Those figures, however, do not represent the current state of border crossings.

The New York Times reported last week that Trump had berated Kirstjen Nielsen, the homeland security secretary, for what he saw as a failure to adequately protect the border.

Sources: Customs and Border Protection, The New York Times

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

LINDA QIU © 2018 The New York Times

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