Immigration has

a flashpoint this election cycle,

and it's expected to be a key issue in Thursday's presidential debate.

White House correspondent Laura Barone Lopez has more.

Laura?

Thanks, Amna. On the trail, former President Donald Trump

has repeatedly made baseless claims blaming undocumented migrants for a

violent crime wave. But nationwide, violent crime is down 15%.

And undocumented immigrants are 26% less likely than native-born Americans

to be arrested and convicted of murder,

according to a new report in Texas from the Libertarian Cato Institute.

On the southern border today, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkus said President

Biden's policies are working.

Weekly average Border Patrol encounters have decreased more than 40%

the lowest level of encounters since January 2021.

For an on-the-ground perspective of the situation at the U.S. Mexico border, first were joined by Sheriff Mark Danels of Cochise County, Arizona.

Sheriff Danels, thank you for joining the news hour.

I wanted to ask you, the Biden administration today

says border encounters are down, including

in your area of the border.

Are you seeing that decrease?

Well, I went back and looked and I asked my border

...