Trump’s plan to stem border crossings gets results

Border arrests are plummeting after Trump crackdown.

CIUDAD TECUN UMAN, MEXICO – OCTOBER 20: Immigrants cross the Mexico-Guatemala border in rafts on October 20, 2018 in Ciudad Tecun Uman Mexico. The caravan of thousands of Central Americans, mostly from Honduras, hopes to eventually reach the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened and Central American countries with consequences if the caravan isn’t stopped before reaching the U.S. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

President Donald Trump’s plan to force Mexico to stem the flow of migrants across the southwest border of the U.S. appears to be working.

Border arrests, a metric for illegal crossings, plummeted to 51,000 in August, according to preliminary government figures obtained by POLITICO Wednesday, down more than 60 percent since a peak in May. And border watchers say it’s largely because of an agreement Trump struck with Mexico in June. Mexican authorities, backed by the newly formed National Guard, are now cracking down on migrants traversing Mexico’s southern border with Guatemala, monitoring river crossings and stopping buses carrying migrants from Central America through Mexico. At the same time, the U.S. is making tens of thousands of asylum seekers wait in Mexico while their applications are considered.

More From Politico: