Adding Some Context To The Trump Administration’s Border ‘Crisis’

MEXICALI, MEXICO - APRIL 05: Border Patrol agents and security personnel are seen from the Mexican side of the border fence on April 5, 2019 in Mexicali, Mexico. President Trump on Friday visited Calexico, a small ci... MEXICALI, MEXICO - APRIL 05: Border Patrol agents and security personnel are seen from the Mexican side of the border fence on April 5, 2019 in Mexicali, Mexico. President Trump on Friday visited Calexico, a small city in a largely agricultural region between Arizona and the Pacific, to inspect an upgraded portion of fencing and to meet with law enforcement. That's more attention than usual for a border town that locals say is defined by its interconnection with Mexico, its infernal summers and its labor-based economy. (Photo by Luis Boza/VIEWpress/Corbis via Getty Images) MORE LESS

April 16, 2019 1:09 p.m.

We just published a timeline on the last couple weeks of President Donald Trump’s attacks against immigrants and asylum seekers, and the countries from which they came to the southern border. The timeline, showing an escalation of anti-immigration actions from the administration, prompts the question: Why now?

As best as we can tell, the latest wave of xenophobia from the White House came at least in part in response to rising monthly apprehension numbers from the Department of Homeland Security, and media coverage of that rise.

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