WESLACO – New numbers recently released showed illegal border crossings are down by more than 50 percent.

The numbers were at the forefront of a Senate, Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing on Capitol Hill.

The hearing was focused on building President Donald Trump’s border wall. But when the former acting director of U.S. Customs and Border Protection cited new numbers, the focus quickly shifted.

Last month, CHANNEL 5 NEWS reported statistics showed the lowest numbers since the start of the 2012 budget year.

Citing the numbers at the hearing, a committee spokesperson asked David Aguilar, former CBP director, for insight on the drop.

Aguilar credited Trump and his tough stance on illegal immigration, saying “when the U.S. stands strong and takes certain action, substantive action.”

“And substantive may be something as primarily the current Administration saying 'We're going to do this,' and something substantive happens to do that. This Administration has said we're going to address illegal immigration. ICE started working in the interior unlike other times, so that message resonates,” he said.

Aguilar updated the committee on new numbers from CBP, saying as of March 31, illegal border crossings dropped by 67 percent.

Border Patrol hasn’t officially cited the Trump Administration as a reason for the decline.