Nearly 78,000 people attempted to enter the U.S. illegally across the southern border in January, more than twice as many as a year ago, the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol said.
The number indicated a 6% increase from December, the CBP said Wednesday on its website, and was the highest total since July 2019.
Nearly half of all those detained attempting to gain entry in January (37,600) were single adults from Mexico, a 119% increase from the same month a year ago.
The total number of arrests average about 3,000 in January, and the Border Patrol indicated that one of the primary drivers of the increase is the perceived shift in U.S. policy under President Joe Biden, such as his executive order to halt construction of the border wall.
''CBP believes this increase is caused by several factors, including underlying crime and instability in migrants’ home countries, which have been exacerbated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and inaccurate perceptions of shifts in immigration and border security policies,'' the agency said.
''The vast majority of these encounters occur between official ports of entry. Further, the Border Patrol estimates that between March 20, 2020 and February 4, 2021, 38 percent of all encounters involved recidivism, or individuals who have been apprehended more than once.''
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