Over 100,000 Immigrants At Border In February, Highest Since 2019

On Wednesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released operational statistics for February 2021, showing that CBP encountered 100,441 persons trying to enter the United States at the Southwest border, a figure representing an almost 30% increase over January. “The number of migrants that U.S. border authorities encountered along the U.S.-Mexico border in February rose to levels not seen since a dramatic surge in migrant family arrivals in 2019 overwhelmed border facilities,” AZ Central noted, adding, “Customs and Border Protection said that 25,000 of the migrants they encountered in February had already attempted to cross the border previously.”

CBP stated, “Beginning in April 2020, CBP has seen an increase in encounters of unaccompanied children from Central America at the Southwest Border. In Fiscal Year 2021 through February, 29,792 unaccompanied children and single minors have been encountered along the Southwest Border. Two thousand nine hundred and forty-two of these children are under the age of 12 years old and 26,850 are aged 13-17 years old.”