Southwest border apprehensions still dwarf the number of criminal prosecutions. In April 2018 preliminary estimates indicate that criminal prosecutions totaled 22 percent of Border Patrol apprehensions that month, up slightly from 20 percent of BP apprehensions in January 2018.

Criminal prosecutions of referrals from Customs and Border Protection increased in April in all five federal judicial districts along the southwest border. Prosecutions were highest in the Western District of Texas where prosecutions doubled between January and April.

However, April numbers even for border areas that historically have experienced particularly prosecution levels were still significantly lower than in the past when previous administrations also implemented "zero-tolerance" and called for the criminal prosecution of all illegal southwest border crossers.

To read the full report, including detailed figures on criminal prosecutions for each of the five southwest border districts over the last decade along with recent trends for border areas within each district, go to:

http://trac.syr.edu/immigration/reports/515/

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