The Asylum Surge Is Finally Starting to Ease Up

Border apprehensions are finally down a bit:

The big argument, apparently, is over what caused this decline. Was it stepped-up Mexican enforcement? Or is it just the usual summer drop?

Probably both. Plus a third thing that no one is talking about: what goes up must come down. This asylum boom has been bigger than ones in the past, but they never last forever and this one was never going to last forever either.

If Donald Trump hadn’t mismanaged both the border and our Central American affairs in general, this might never have happened. Or maybe it had nothing to with Trump. There’s no way to know for sure. But Guatemala has been a cesspool of crime and street gangs for many years, and only under Trump did that turn into a huge migrant surge. Maybe Obama’s mushy, soft-hearted plan to help Guatemala become a better place to live had something to it after all.

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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