--- title: Border Crossings Down Under Trump 'Zero Tolerance' Policy description: Border crossings fell 18% in June under Trump "zero tolerance" policy canonical: https://time.com/5331196/border-crossings-dropped-nearly-20-under-trumps-zero-tolerance-policy/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-05T19:57:13.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T20:46:30.214Z article:section: Politics og:title: Border Crossings Dropped Nearly 20% Under Trump's 'Zero Tolerance' Policy og:description: The decline follows months of upticks in crossings this year og:url: https://time.com/5331196/border-crossings-dropped-nearly-20-under-trumps-zero-tolerance-policy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86bdd43fd07d02bd/6989345b86f68e306e6e98c8/gettyimages-979507074.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: President Trump's "Zero Tolerance" Mexico Border Policy Stirs Controversy And Confusion og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Border Crossings Dropped Nearly 20% Under Trump's 'Zero Tolerance' Policy twitter:description: The decline follows months of upticks in crossings this year twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt86bdd43fd07d02bd/6989345b86f68e306e6e98c8/gettyimages-979507074.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Border Crossings Dropped Nearly 20% Under Trump's 'Zero Tolerance' Policy > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 5, 2018 7:57 PM UTC  U.S. Border Patrol agents check passports at the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry, where the U.S. and Mexico border meet, as people walk across the bridge to enter the United States on June 20, 2018 in El Paso, Texas. U.S. Border Patrol agents check passports at the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry, where the U.S. and Mexico border meet, as people walk across the bridge to enter the United States on June 20, 2018 in El Paso, Texas.Joe Raedle—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Jul 5, 2018 7:57 PM UTC Apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border fell in June amid the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy, under which any person caught crossing the border illegally is criminally prosecuted. There was an 18% drop in illegal border crossings between May and June, according to new data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. A total of 34,114 migrants were apprehended at the border in June, down from 40,338 in May and 38,243 in April. The decline follows months of upticks in crossings this year after historic lows in 2017\. Border crossings are still far below the peak that was reached in decades past. Department of Homeland Security Press Secretary Tyler Houlton referred to the “zero tolerance” policy in a Thursday statement about the new figures. “As we have said before, the journey north is dangerous and puts individuals in the hands of smugglers and traffickers,” Houlton’s statement reads. “We continue to call on Congress to address the crisis at the border by closing legal loopholes that drive illegal immigration.” Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced this past spring that officials would be implementing the zero tolerance policy as a way of getting tough on illegal immigration. The policy faced intense backlash because it led to the separation of thousands of children from their parents at the border, as children could not be incarcerated with their parents. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in June to curtail the practice of separating families. Still, as many as 3,000 kids remain in federal custody away from their parents. 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