WASHINGTON — Overall, about 1% more people were encountered at the U.S.-Mexico border in the month of May compared to April, according to Customs and Border Patrol data. More than 180,000 people came to the border in May, that CBP knows about.
The data showed the number of unaccompanied children, or children traveling alone, dropped from an all-time high of nearly 19,000 in March to more than 14,100 in May.
The high numbers of children have strained the government agencies of CBP and Health and Human Services that handle processing and placing unaccompanied kids; temporary shelters have been opened to house the increase in minors.
While the number of children approaching the border has decreased, along with the number of family units, agents are seeing an increase in adults traveling on their own.
In May, agents turned away more than 112,000 individuals under Title 42, in all, 62% of all encounters with migrants in May resulted in the individual being turned away at the border because of Title 42.
That section of the law allows border agents to deny entry to people if there is a risk they could bring a contagion, like COVID-19, into the U.S. Mexico is still listed as a high-risk country according to the CDC based on the number of documented coronavirus cases currently.
