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By Ryan Patrick Jones
(Reuters) -The number of migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in March fell to the lowest level ever recorded, according to initial figures released by the U.S. government on Tuesday.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a news release that its data currently shows around 7,180 migrants were arrested at the border in March, which would be the lowest monthly total on record. The number of migrant arrests in March is down from a monthly average of 155,000 over the past four years, the border patrol agency said.
Final numbers for March will be released in the coming days, CBP said.
"Border Patrol agents are empowered like never before to shut down unlawful entry and protect American lives,” Acting CBP Commissioner Pete Flores said in the release.
President Donald Trump, a Republican, took an array of actions to deter illegal crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border after returning to the White House on January 20, saying a crackdown was needed after high levels of migration under his Democratic predecessor former President Joe Biden.
Trump's moves included surging military troops and implementing a sweeping ban on asylum at the border.
His measures built on some initiatives already under way by the end of Biden's tenure, including a similar asylum ban and a push to increase Mexican enforcement. The measures appear to have reduced crossings.
U.S. Border Patrol's monthly enforcement statistics go back to 2000. The lowest monthly total of 8,347 was recorded last month.
Prior to that, the lowest monthly total on record was April 2017, when the agency arrested 11,127 at the start of Trump's first term.
While the number of border arrests similarly dipped at the start of Trump's 2017-2021 presidency - what some called "the Trump effect" - they rebounded in some months and years that followed.
Migrant arrests are often used as a proxy to estimate illegal crossings although some migrants also enter undetected.
(Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones; Editing by Aurora Ellis)
