WASHINGTON — (AP) Arrests at the Mexican border plummeted to the lowest monthly level in years during President Donald Trump’s first full month in office.

The Border Patrol says about 23,500 people were arrested by the Border Patrol trying to cross the Mexican border in February.

In January, about 42,500 people were caught at the border. The February figures, which also include drops in the arrests of families and children crossing the border alone, are the lowest monthly tallies since at the least the start of the 2012 budget year.

It’s unclear what prompted the steep declines. The number of people caught crossing the border illegally in the winter typically is lower than during the summer, though Trump has also made clear he intends to take a hard line on illegal immigration.

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