In the month of November, encounters and arrests with unlawful migrants reached a total of 104,285 in the El Paso, Big Bend, Del Rio, Laredo, and Rio Grande Valley sectors, per recent figures from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP).
According to Hayden Sparks of The Texan, this number is “more than double the number of apprehensions in November of last year.”
Single adults made up 63% of that total. Family units came in second at 27%. In third place, were unaccompanied children, who made up 10% of encounters.
As far as nationalities who CBP took into custody were concerned, authorities reported that 28% were Mexican, 18% were Honduran, 15% were Guatemala, and 9% were Salvadoran.
A total of 30% of the individuals taken into custody were of other nationalities.
In October, apprehensions in Texas sectors dropped to 98,652 from the July peak of 147,107.
In the southwestern United States, there were 173,620 total encounters with unlawful migrants. According to a CBP report, roughly a quarter of those people had had previously been arrested at least once in 2020 by border police.
In addition, drug seizures increased by 90% from October. The agency partially attributed this to the relaxation of travel rules that were enacted during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moreover, there was a 164% increase in methamphetamine seizures.
CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus, commented on the enforcement numbers in a press release.
“CBP’s November Monthly Operational Update reflects an incredible amount of work on behalf of the American people to keep dangerous drugs and products out of our communities, to facilitate travel and billions of dollars in trade, and to maintain security along our borders,” Magnus declared.
In the present, a state border wall is being constructed in Starr County following the instructions Texas Gov. Greg Abbott gave to the Texas Facilities Commission in June to erect a barrier between Texas and Mexico.
Abbott has spearheaded the border wall project to tackle unlawful immigration when the Biden administration is perceived to be lagging on the issue, The Texan reports.
In Fiscal Year 2021, there were over 1.15 million unlawful migrant encounters in Texas border patrol sectors according to CBP reports.