Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse: “Federal criminal prosecutions of individuals apprehended by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) along the southwest border with Mexico jumped 30 percent in April 2018 over March figures. Since January, criminal prosecutions were up 60 percent, rising from 5,191 in January to 8,298 in April. This increase followed rising border apprehensions and Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ April 6, 2018 announcement of a “zero-tolerance policy” calling for the criminal prosecution of those who illegally cross over our southwest border. 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/“