Starting around January 2017, America saw a massive drop in illegal border crossings, primarily due to candidate Donald Trump’s tough rhetoric discouraging it, but also due to increased border enforcement.

However, in recent months, illegal border crossings are on the rise. As reported by The Washington Post, “U.S. border agents made more than 50,000 arrests in May for the third month in a row.” The anti-Trump paper then informs us that’s “an indication that escalating enforcement tactics by the Trump administration … [have] not had an immediate deterrent effect.”

However, it takes no leap of logic to discern this increase is due in no small part to efforts by Democrats to undermine America’s immigration laws and national security. Democrat-run cities claim “sanctuary city” status, actively undermining federal immigration law to the detriment of the safety and security of American citizens. Prospective immigrants know they only need to get to one of those cities.

Look no further than a recent video of the mayor of Philadelphia literally dancing a jig in celebration of a federal court ruling preventing the Trump administration from withholding grants to the city due to its protection of illegal aliens. One can assume the families of Philadelphians killed, raped or assaulted by illegal aliens in the city were less celebratory.

The Trump administration has shown its determination to secure the border and crack down on illegal aliens. That’s good news when 90% of those arrested for crimes already have criminal convictions. While Democrats have managed thus far to thwart efforts to build a border wall, President Trump is making full use of his executive powers in other areas.

In a recent interview, Attorney General Jeff Sessions responded to a report on illegal alien crime statistics by arguing, “The illegal immigrant crime rate in this country should be zero. Every crime committed by an illegal alien is, by definition, a crime that should have been prevented. It is outrageous that tens of thousands of Americans are dying every year because of the drugs and violence brought over our borders illegally and that taxpayers have been forced, year after year, to pay millions of dollars to incarcerate tens of thousands of illegal aliens. … Today’s report is yet another reminder that we must continue this [zero tolerance] policy and help fulfill President Trump’s goals of restoring lawfulness to our immigration system and ensure that immigration serves the good of this country.”

AG Sessions has announced a renewed push to shut down the flow of illegal aliens on multiple fronts.

One is a narrowing of the criteria under which an alien can qualify for asylum. In a 31-page document issued Monday, Sessions declared, “Generally, claims by aliens pertaining to domestic violence or gang violence perpetrated by non-governmental actors will not qualify for asylum.” He further noted, “The mere fact that a country may have problems effectively policing certain crimes — such as domestic violence or gang violence — or that certain populations are more likely to be victims of crime, cannot itself establish an asylum claim.” Asylum is still possible under these circumstances, but it’s not guaranteed.

While Democrats decry this as a draconian action, the addition of domestic and gang violence as qualifying asylum criteria is new, only added in 2014.

Democrats were embarrassed recently when a tweet by former Barack Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau went viral, then backfired. The post showed pictures of illegal alien children sleeping in an ICE detention cell. Favreau blasted the practice of separating children from parents, blaming Trump. As it turns out, the picture was from 2014, during the Obama presidency.

Sessions addressed this issue specifically, noting that if parents do not want to be separated from their children, they should not attempt to cross the border illegally, and if they do attempt it, then the blame lies with the parents, not the U.S. government, which has a right to protect its territorial sovereignty and its citizens.

Sessions declared, “If you cross the border unlawfully … we will prosecute you. … If you smuggle an illegal alien across the border, then we’ll prosecute you. … If you’re smuggling a child, then we’re going to prosecute you, and that child will be separated from you, probably, as required by law. If you don’t want your child separated, then don’t bring them across the border illegally.” Whatever one thinks of this policy, Sessions clearly intends to deter people from attempting illegal crossings in the first place.

The Trump Justice Department has also announced a crackdown on visa overstayers, who make up nearly half of all illegals in the U.S., and those who gained U.S. citizenship by fraudulent means.

Lamentations by Democrats are cynical and duplicitous. Democrats, at least among leadership, care little about the plight of minority aliens beyond their usefulness as a political wedge issue to damage Republicans.

This was evident from the fact they did nothing on the issue in 2009 and 2010 when they had supermajorities in the House and Senate. It was also evident this year when President Trump offered amnesty for three times as many aliens as had qualified under Obama’s unconstitutional DACA program, in exchange for securing the border and ending chain migration and the visa lottery. Democrats refused. It was evident when Democrats shockingly defended the brutal, murderous Central American gang MS-13, which Trump called “animals.”

While Sessions has been the hard-liner and Trump firm but willing to negotiate, this may be a bit of good cop/bad cop. Democrats are recalcitrant when it comes to securing the border and protecting American citizens, but with significant new pressure brought to bear by Sessions, Democrats may be forced to come to the table.