U.S. credits Mexico, Central America for sharp drop in border arrests

FILE PHOTO: Soldiers assigned to the National Guard keep watch near a section of the border fence between Mexico and U.S. as seen from Anapra neighborhood in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico September 5, 2019. Picture taken September 5, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration on Monday credited Mexico and Central American countries with helping to cut U.S. border arrests by nearly 60% from a record high earlier this year but then lashed out at a federal judge for ruling against a strict anti-asylum policy.

With President Donald Trump's anti-immigration policy shaping up as an issue in his 2020 re-election campaign, Mark Morgan, the acting commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said that 64,000 people were detained or turned back at the southwest border in August. That was down 22% from July and 56% from a high mark in May.