Attempting to cross the border from Mexico into the US is more difficult than ever, with most undocumented immigrants attempting it stopped or apprehended by US agents, a new Department of Homeland Security report claims.
The Office of Immigration Statistics in the agency published the report last week, in which it estimates that between 55 to 85 percent of all attempts to illegally cross the US border fail. This represents an increase of between 35 to 70 percent from ten years ago. The number of deportees and undocumented immigrants who try to cross into the US illegally more than once has also fallen, with many giving up after their first failed attempt.
The findings of the report challenge the notion of law enforcement on the US border as ineffective and overwhelmed, with the Department of Homeland Security ordered by President Donald Trump to get ready for a wall to be constructed between Mexico and the US, and further improvements to border security the subject of negotiations between Trump and leaders of the Democratic Party last week.
The new report suggests that major progress in preventing undocumented immigrants even considering to attempt illegally crossing the border into the US, let alone succeeding, has been made by the agency. Arrests have fallen even further from the historic lows under the Obama administration since Trump vowed to crack-down when he became President earlier this year.