WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th March, 2019) The number of migrants apprehended at the US-Mexico border increased by about 31 percent in February compared to the previous month, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Assistant Commissioner for Public Affairs Andrew Meehan said during a press conference on Tuesday.
"Total enforcement actions for February in fiscal year 2019 were 76,103, those include those deemed inadmissible at the ports of entry and those apprehended in between the ports of entry," Meehan said. "This represented a 31 percent increase over January."
Of the total number of apprehensions for the month of February, 7,249 were migrant children with no parent or guardian, and 40,385 were migrants who came as family units, Meehan said.
CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan said the numbers demonstrated an alarming trend that the agency expects to escalate in March, April and May.
The agency's Chief of Operations Brian Hastings said border agents were also seeing a growing trend of migrant groups of more than 100 arriving at the southwester border, a trend CBP cannot sustain with its current facilities and manpower. Hastings pointed out so far CBP has already encountered 70 of these large groups this fiscal year, which began in October, compared to 13 in fiscal year 2018 and two in fiscal year 2017.
