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Illegal immigration drops to 17-year low; how much credit does Trump deserve?
(David McNew/Getty Images)

Illegal immigration drops to 17-year low; how much credit does Trump deserve?

Department of Homeland Security officials recently announced that the number of recorded illegal Mexican border crossings has fallen by 72 percent since December, the last month before President Donald Trump took office. The number of people caught illegally crossing the border fell to 12,000 in March, the lowest monthly total in 17 years.

Some commentators, including Univision's Jorge Ramos, have credited Trump's tough talk on immigration throughout the campaign as the reason for the decline.

Wednesday on "Pat & Stu," the guys worried that the decline in illegal crossings would be temporary while Mexican nationals wait to see how U.S. immigration policies evolve under Trump before deciding whether to risk an illegal entry. If no significant action is taken by the Trump team, Stu argued, many of these would-be immigrants may eventually find their way across the border.

Still, Stu was pleased with the initial progress on stemming the tide of illegal immigration:

"The tough talk, I think, is a good short term thing here. And look, that's better than what we've had; there's no doubt about that. That goes back to not only the previous president but the one before that, and almost everybody else, really. I mean even if you go back to Reagan, this was his big problem issue for a lot of conservatives. So we'll see what happens. We'll see if the rhetoric matches up to the actions, which we have not seen yet."

Pat Gray raised the specter of a Trump flip-flop on immigration, as the president has also claimed to be willing to consider a bipartisan immigration reform bill, which Pat referred to as "code for amnesty."

To see more from Pat and Stu, visit their channel on TheBlaze and watch "Pat & Stu" live weekdays noon–2 p.m. ET or anytime on demand at TheBlaze TV.

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