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Dana Milbank: On the border, Trump alone couldn’t fix it. In fact, he broke it.

The existence of the crisis is as obvious as its cause: Trump. He didn't single-handedly create this mess, but he definitely made it worse.

He pursued not a policy but an instinct, following emotion rather than empiricism. Now, an immigration policy of toughness and fear has backfired in tangible ways.

Customs and Border Protection reported on Tuesday that 103,492 migrants were either apprehended or turned away along the southern border in March (with about 90% attempting to cross illegally), the largest number in 12 years and more than quadruple the 23,557 in Trump’s first full month as president, and double the level seen early last fall.