Tommy Piggott, principal deputy spokesperson at the U.S. Department of State, said combating human trafficking is tied to the administration’s border-security actions and that measures taken across government have reduced illegal border crossings.

“Under the previous administration, we saw the worst border crisis in US history, which devastated American communities and enabled the criminal cartels, which engaged in human trafficking,” Piggott said. He added that, “because of the actions that President Trump took across all of government, illegal border crossings are down 95% compared to last year.”

Piggott said the department has used a tool of designating criminal cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, which “opens up an array of tools to allow us to hold those cartels … accountable, to bring them to justice.” He also described partnering with countries across the region to combat transnational crime and human trafficking.

The spokesperson characterized the administration’s border policies and international partnerships as part of efforts to reduce trafficking but did not provide supporting data for the 95% figure in the Q&A. He did not detail which cartels were designated, the dates of those designations, or the specific tools that have been used in individual prosecutions.