Illegal crossing arrests at Mexican border dropped by about 20,000 in July: Officials

The number of people arrested for illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border declined by approximately 20,000 in July, the second monthly decline in a row following a steep increase this spring, according to three senior Homeland Security officials and a nongovernmental official.

Apprehensions, or those arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents for entering the country between official crossing points on the southwest border, dropped more than 20% from June's 95,000 arrests to about 72,000 in July, officials said.

Illegal crossing arrests along the southwest border have dropped about 45% from a...