By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
The number of undocumented migrants apprehended by Border Patrol agents in the Del Rio Sector increased again in May, records show.
According to figures published on the web site of Customs and Border Protection, https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-encounters-by-component, a total of 27,890 persons were apprehended crossing the border illegally in the Del Rio Sector during May.
The May numbers show 6,109 more persons apprehended than were taken into custody in April, when the Border Patrol reported apprehending a total of 21,781 persons throughout the 47-county Del Rio Sector.
A review of the statistics published on the CBP’s web site tells the story of the migrant increases over the first eight months of the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, 2020.
In October 2020, Border Patrol agents in the Del Rio sector apprehended 8,449 undocumented persons.
In November 2020, the number of apprehended persons in the Del Rio Sector increased slightly to a total of 8,713.
In December 2020, the number of apprehended persons in the Del Rio Sector jumped to 9,197.
In January, the number of undocumented persons apprehended in the Del Rio Sector climbed to 11,141.
In February, that number dipped slightly to 11,091 undocumented persons apprehended in the Del Rio Sector.
The number of undocumented persons apprehended by agents in the Del Rio Sector skyrocketed to 20,052 in March, and rose to a total of 21,781 in April.
In May, the total number of undocumented persons apprehended in the Del Rio Sector shot up again, this time to 27,890.
In total, during the first eight months of the 2020-2021 Fiscal Year, Border Patrol agents have apprehended a total of 118,314 persons in the Del Rio Sector.
Throughout all of the nine sectors that make up the United States’ southwest border with Mexico, a total of 897,213 undocumented persons were apprehended during the first eight months of the current fiscal year.
According to the CBP’s statistics, the vast majority of persons apprehended in the Del Rio Sector continue to be single adults, which made up 90,452 of the 118,314 total. The next-highest group is family units, comprising 22,547 of the 118,314 total number of persons.
The total number of unaccompanied children/single minors was the lowest, numerically speaking, of the total demographics of those apprehended, recorded as 5,315 in the first eight months of the fiscal year.
More than half of those apprehended as they crossed into the Del Rio Sector originally came from Mexico and Honduras. A total of 46,414 citizens of Mexico and 32,100 citizens of Honduras have been apprehended trying to enter the Del Rio Sector so far this fiscal year.
The remaining countries of origin are Guatemala and El Salvador, and the rest are grouped as “other” by the CBP statisticians.
The Del Rio Sector has also seen the second-highest percent change in the numbers of encounters, the CBP reported.
During the first eight months of the 2020-2021 Fiscal Year, October 2020 through May 2021, Del Rio Sector agents apprehended a total of 118,314 persons, a 457.4 percent increase over the previous year.
Only the Yuma Sector in Arizona posted a higher percent increase, with 738.6 percent.
The 830 Times contacted the Del Rio Sector headquarters in an attempt to learn how many of the persons apprehended so far this fiscal year have been deported, either to Mexico or to their countries of origin. We were told the Border Patrol does not track deportations; those fall under the Department of Justice Executive Office for Immigration Review.
An email sent to the Executive Office for Immigration Review requesting those figures has not been answered yet.
Asked to comment about the increase in apprehensions last month, Del Rio Sector Chief Austin L. Skero II told the 830 Times, “Del Rio Sector continues to see an increase in the number of undocumented migrants, encountering more than 27,000 during the month of May.”
“I am extremely proud of our agents as they work tirelessly, with our law enforcement partners, to secure the border,” Skero added.
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