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Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Saturday it "makes no sense" that sanctuary cities want to fight the federal government to prevent detention of illegal immigrants.

Sessions said that voters in those areas must hold their local government accountable to keep their cities safe.

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"We're going to put pressure on these cities," he said on "Justice with Judge Jeanine." "We're going to battle them every step of the way."

Sessions said he will stand firm on his plan to withhold grant money from cities that do not abide by federal immigration laws.

He said some police departments do not necessarily agree with their orders to ignore ICE detainers, but must operate at the pleasure of the mayor.

"They think this is crazy," Sessions said.

Earlier this week, Sessions said illegal immigrant criminals and drug cartels are turning American cities into "warzones."

"It is a direct threat to our legal system, peace and prosperity, he said in Nogales, Ariz.

Watch the "Justice" interview above.

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Sessions on Sanctuary City Leaders: 'We're Going to Battle Them Every Step of the Way' - Fox News Insider

"Last month, we saw a 64 percent reduction in illegal immigration on our southern border."- President Trump, weekly address, April 7, 2017

"My administration is - just a matter of weeks, literally, a short period of time - has brought record reductions to illegal immigration. Record reductions. Down 61 percent since inauguration. General Kelly is doing a fantastic job."- Trump, remarks at North America's Building Trades Unions conference, April 4, 2017

"You see what's happened: 61 percent down now in terms of illegal people coming in. Way, way down in terms of drugs pouring into our country and poisoning our youth. Way down. General Kelly has done a great job."- Trump, remarks at CEO Town Hall on Unleashing American Business, April 4, 2017

"I go to these arenas that have signs all over the place - 'He's kept his promise, he's kept his promise' - because I've done a lot of work. The border is in the best shape it's been in, in decades. Down 61 percent since the inauguration."- Trump, remarks at National Republican Congressional Committee dinner, March 21, 2017

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President Donald Trump is repeatedly touting reductions in apprehensions at the Southwestern border, attributing the decline to his administration and the leadership of Department of Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly.

Trump also claimed that "drugs pouring into our country and poisoning our youth" is "way, way down." We don't know if that is accurate. We repeatedly requested 2017 data of drug seizures at the border from Customs and Border Patrol since Trump made the claim, but still have not received a response. The White House didn't provide data, either. We will return to that claim when CBP provides us the data.

So for now, we dug into Trump's use of the 64 percent and 61 percent figures. The figure is correct, but it requires some caveats. Here's what we found.

First, some context. Southwest border apprehensions have steadily declined since their peak at more than 1.6 million people in fiscal 2000. There have been temporary spikes since 2000 - most recently, there was an uptick in apprehensions of unaccompanied children and their families in 2016, after a significant drop in 2015. Those apprehensions in 2016 were back to 2014 levels, during the height of the flow of Central American migrants illegally crossing the border.

These families and children are fleeing rampant violence and crime in a region called the Northern Triangle, comprising Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. Many of the Central American migrants turn themselves in to Border Patrol once they reach the southwest border, seeking asylum status.

This represents a shift in border migration. The number of Mexicans caught trying to cross the border illegally is dropping (more than 400,000 in fiscal 2010 to about 177,000 in 2016), The Washington Post reported. The number of migrants from the Northern Triangle nearly quadrupled in the same period to almost 179,000.

March 2017 total apprehensions were, indeed, very low. It's the lowest monthly number CBP has reported since at least 2000. The 64 percent figure he uses is the total number of people apprehended or "deemed inadmissible" at the southwest border in March 2017 (16,600), compared to the total number in March 2016 (46,150).

The 61 percent figure Trump is referring to is the drop in just the Southwest border apprehensions from January 2017 (31,577) to March 2017 (12,193). A 61 percent drop over three months is dramatic, as Trump indicates. But the January data is a total for the month, not since Inauguration Day on Jan. 20 - so the majority of the month's data predated his presidency.

Actually, the best apples-to-apples measure would be to compare the number of people apprehended or deemed inadmissible for February and March of 2016 with February and March of 2017. That calculation shows there was a 52.4 percent (40,170) decrease in 2017 compared to 2016 (84,466). This would be a more accurate look at the impact of Trump's policy changes to date, rather than focusing on just the month of March.

Still, experts caution against putting too much emphasis on the annual, quarterly or monthly numbers, because immigration trends are about flows, not raw numbers. But what is notable about recent apprehensions is that it doesn't fit the seasonal trends. Usually, there's a seasonal lull through winter months, before apprehensions start climbing back up. Apprehensions tend to peak from March to May, before coming back down in the late summer and through the fall.

But in fall 2016, there was an increase in apprehensions, despite the seasonal norm. You can see this increase in the bright blue line of 2016 apprehensions in the graphic below. Apprehensions start to increase in July 2016, and through October (see the red line for fiscal 2017), and peak in November 2016. Then apprehensions start falling from November to March. Looking at the red line in the graphic, it's clear that the downward trend in 2017 so far is different and more drastic than any other year since 2002.

What does this all mean? Why was there an increase in apprehensions leading up to November 2016, the month of the U.S. presidential election? Why did it start to decline after the election, and so drastically into March? Experts say Trump's rhetoric on immigration made a difference.

On-the-ground reactions to federal level immigration policies, such as Trump's executive orders cracking down on illegal immigration, take some time to materialize. But the apparent rush to enter the country before the election indicates people sensed immigration attitudes and policies could drastically change if Trump were elected, said Christopher Wilson, deputy director of the Mexico Institute at the Wilson Center.

"There's been a clear and marked decrease in unauthorized border crossings. That's really undeniable," Wilson said. "How much of that is due to policy changes versus rhetoric? It's not really easy to answer that question. My sense is that what we've really seen so far, the big change, has been around rhetoric, communicating. It's been about messaging, and that's worked, essentially. Potential migrants are convinced that this is a difficult time to come to the United States, and they have not been coming."

Still, violence continues to escalate in the Northern Triangle in Central America. In the past two years, Mexico and the United States have both turned away comparable flows of northbound Central American refugees and asylum seekers. That means it's unclear how long this downward trend will last. Our friends at PolitiFact found that smugglers may be waiting to find a new route into the United States.

In 2015, then-DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson declared apprehensions were at record lows because of measures his agency had taken to respond to the 2014 influx of Central Americans. (We gave him Two Pinocchios at the time.) As we've seen, the Central American crisis continued to persist, leading to a spike in apprehensions the following year. So the reductions in 2015 under Johnson didn't last long.

Trump is citing a documented figure that the total number of apprehensions and people "deemed inadmissible" at the Southwest border declined by 64 percent in March 2017 compared to March 2016, and that there was a 61 percent reduction in Southwest border apprehensions from January 2017 to March 2017.

The number of people apprehended or deemed admissible tend to start climbing in March, yet the number continued to decline in March 2017. That shows how uncharacteristically low the flow over the border has been in March 2017. The 61 percent figure also is unique because such a reduction over three months is quite dramatic and bucks seasonal trends. Total apprehensions in March 2017 were the lowest monthly total since at least 2000.

But his use of the data still lacks some context. Trump says the 61 percent reduction began since Inauguration Day, or Jan. 20. But the January data is a total for the month, so the majority of the data predates his presidency.

As we noted, the most accurate figure would compare February and March of 2016 with those months for 2017. That shows a decrease of 52.4 percent, which is still substantial. Trump's rhetoric during the presidential campaign against illegal immigration and border crossings likely resonated with northbound migrants, experts say.

Yet it's unclear what role Trump's immigration actions as president had, or what role Kelly (who was confirmed on Inauguration Day) had in bringing those figures down. And it's too early for Trump to declare he kept his promise; we don't know whether this is the new normal, or a temporary change.

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Fact check: Trump's claim that illegal immigration is down 64 percent ... - Chicago Tribune

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During the month that President Donald Trumptook office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection reported amajor drop in illegal immigration at our southern border, with 27 percent fewer apprehensions than in any of the last three full months of the Obama administration.

Fox News reported that31,575 individuals were taken into custody during the month of January.Thats still a high number The Washington Times reported itwas the worst January since 2012 but it highlighted just how bad illegal immigration had gotten by the end of the Obama administration.

Trump was sworn into office Jan. 20.

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The CBP report released Monday revealed that on average, 45,000 individuals were caught crossing during October, November and December.

Fox News reported that the elevated levels were due to family units and unaccompanied children from three groups: Central Americans, Haitian nationals migrating from Brazil and Cuban nationals.

There are a lot of reasons why numbers go up and down, but some of it could be a reaction to statements from President Trump that were going to increase border security and seeing media reports that were going to get tougher on illegal immigration in the U.S., said Jim Carafano,security expert with the Heritage Foundation. People may be more resistant to come.

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You cant make too much of monthly numbers, but if you see the total lawful immigration population drop, that means youre doing something thats impacting the system overall.

Its hardly a surprise, though, considering the focus on illegal immigration under the Trump administration. During his Tuesday speech to a joint session of Congress, the president yet again reaffirmed that he planned to make stopping illegal immigration a priority.

Weve defended the borders of other nations while leaving our own borders wide open for anyone to crossand for drugs to pour in at a now unprecedented rate, Trump said, according to a transcript fromThe New York Times. And weve spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas, while our infrastructure at home has so badly crumbled.

Trump returned to the theme later in the speech.

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By finally enforcing our immigration laws, we will raise wages, help the unemployed, save billions and billions of dollars, and make our communities safer for everyone, he said.

We want all Americans to succeed, but that cant happen in an environment of lawless chaos. We must restore integrity and the rule of law at our borders. For that reason, we will soon begin the construction of a great, great wall along our southern border.

It may not be much, but its certainly a start.

Please like and share on Facebook and Twitter if you agree that the border should be a priority for the Trump administration.

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Illegal Immigration Dropped 27 Percent in January

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In a letter to clergy, the Most Reverend Bishop Peter Libasci for the Diocese of Manchester says Catholic parishes should not be working against law enforcement, according to the Christian Post.

Libasci stated that the term sanctuary church was being misused by illegal immigration advocates.

Some use this term and mean what I have described above a welcoming community ready to offer immediate aid to anyone in need. In these works, of course, we will always be involved, Libasci wrote in the letter.

But others use this term sanctuary to refer to churches that will allow individuals in fear of deportation to live in the church.

Libasci went on to say that the propping up of sanctuary churches was creating a false hope for illegal immigrants who are trying to escape enforcement.

Sanctuary is not a designation recognized by law and provides no such legal protection, Libasci continued.

Instead, immigration law imposes criminal penalties and fines on anyone who conceals, harbors, or shields from detection, in any place, an alien who has come to, entered, or remains in the United States in violation of the law.

The mainstream media has heralded the practice of churches harboring illegal immigrants wanted for crimes and other violations by ICE.

In a piece in the New York Times, churches helping to shield illegal immigrants were referred to as Trump-Era immigrant sanctuaries, Breitbart Texas reported at the time.

John Binder is a contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter at@JxhnBinder.

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Catholic Bishop: Churches Should Not Shield Illegal Immigrants - Breitbart News

In this file photo, travelers walk through John F. Kennedy Airport on February 28, 2013 in New York City.

Uruguay's banking crisis had already claimed Rosana Araujo's savings when she and her family, tourist visas in hand, boarded a Miami-bound plane in Montevideo. She stayed in Miami after her visa expired, supporting herself on random jobs, cleaning homes or babysitting.

"I feel lucky because I got here in a plane," she said. "I feel lucky because I didn't have to cross a desert."

While the national discussion on immigration focuses on securing the U.S.-Mexico border with a multibillion dollar wall, travelers such as Araujo who overstay their visits have become the main source of illegal immigration in the United States.

The Homeland Security Department said 527,127 people more than the population of Atlanta who entered the U.S. by plane or ship, not land, and were supposed to leave the country in the 2015 fiscal year overstayed. Demographers estimate that two-thirds of foreigners who arrived in 2013 and are now in the U.S. illegally were admitted with valid travel documents, the New York-based Center for Migration Studies Found.

The administration's directives expanding immigration enforcement affect all immigrants in the country illegally, but they focus on those who cross on land, which is the smaller share of newly arrived immigrants in the country illegally. Nonetheless, the U.S. is preparing to build a wall along the 2,000-mile southern border estimated to cost somewhere between $8 billion and $20 billion. An additional 5,000 Border Patrol agents are to be added at additional cost.

The report estimated that the number of people crossing the border illegally fell from 400,000 in 2000 to 140,000 in 2013. Customs and Border Protection said 12,193 people were caught trying to enter the United States illegally from Mexico in March for the second straight monthly decline in arrests at the border. The agency hadn't reported fewer arrests in a month in at least 17 years.

Dondi Tawatao/Getty Images

Robert Warren, author of the report, says President Donald Trump's immigration orders and plans on the border don't reflect current migration patterns.

"Overstays have been steady for the past 10 or 12 years, but the illegal entries into this country are at a level we haven't seen in 20 or 30 years," the demographer said. "Building a wall across the entire southern border is a statement of policy failure."

The new executive orders say little about visa overstays, in part because the U.S. government can't confirm the total number of travelers who remain in the country after their visas expire. Airlines and vessels report departures to the Department of Homeland Security. But foreigners who leave in vehicles through the ports of entry along the borders are not accounted for because of "major physical infrastructure, logistical and operational hurdles" a January 2016 Department of Homeland Security report said.

Recent high-profile cases of immigrants who are detained or go public with their stories show a different, more common side of illegal immigration.

In July 2015, Zully Palacios flew from her native Peru into Houston and made her way to Vermont to work at a lodge. She faces deportation after immigration officers detained her. About 100 people gathered in Burlington to protest her arrest last month, saying she was unfairly targeted for advocating for dairy-farm workers.

"We are all defending one another. We all should have the right to live peacefully without hurting anybody. We are coming to this country to contribute," said Palacios, who was freed on bond.

Statistics aside, overstays aren't easily tracked. Immigration officials don't monitor travelers to detect when they overstay their visits, and even when return tickets are required for entry, "the planes don't present a 'no-show' list," Orlando immigration lawyer Carlos Colombo said.

"A lot of people fall into limbo, and fall out of status because they thought they were going to be able to do one thing and they find out they actually can't," Colombo said.

People who overstay their visits worry about penalties they might face if they leave and try to return. If a foreigner overstayed his visa for more than one year, he could be banned from returning for 10 years. Immigration officials at Miami and other airports have sent back travelers who had previously overstayed their visits.

But the determined find weaknesses in the immigration system. Some have gone back home, applied for and received new visas from the State Department and successfully returned to the U.S., something lawyers say is caused by a lack of information exchange among government agencies.

Hyun Kim arrived in the U.S. from South Korea 18 years ago with his parents, who simply decided to stay. He's now 20, and more concerned about being allowed to work than being caught by officials. Until after Trump's victory, he didn't know to apply for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which allows some immigrants brought into the country as children to be shielded from deportation and allowed to work.

"My biggest fear is not deportation. It's how I am supposed to make a living here," said Kim, who hopes to go to college for computer science or engineering but works as a waiter in Virginia. "I never imagine living in Korea. But I can't attend university because I can't afford it."

The obstacles those who overstay face depend on the state where they live. Some can't get a driver's license or in-state tuition rates. Many, such as Araujo of Uruguay, work random jobs cleaning homes or babysitting and avoid airports and law enforcement.

In a recent trip to New York, she traveled by car with friends from Miami instead of flying. She wanted to ride the Staten Island Ferry to cruise by the Statue of Liberty but held off when she saw Homeland Security vehicles parked near the terminal and heard officials were screening passengers.

She hopes she'll have another opportunity someday to lay her eyes on the iconic symbol of freedom.

Associated Press writer Elliot Spagat in San Diego contributed to this report.

Published at 9:10 AM PDT on Apr 13, 2017 | Updated at 9:18 AM PDT on Apr 13, 2017

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Border Plan Overlooks Driver of Illegal Immigration: Visas - NBC 7 San Diego