Arrests for illegal border crossings jump 3% in August, suggesting decline may be bottoming out

WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. authorities say arrests for illegal border crossings from Mexico rose slightly in August. The figures released Monday end a stretch of five straight months of declines and signal that flows may be leveling off after sharp drops this year. The Border Patrol made slightly more than 58,000 arrests on the Mexican border during the month, up about 3% from July. U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s acting commissioner, Troy Miller, says restrictions introduced in June to suspend asylum when illegal crossings hit certain thresholds explain why arrests are still hovering near four-year lows.