The number of illegal immigrants nabbed at the southern border rose in February as single adult Mexicans poured into the country at their highest rate in years, according to new Homeland Security data released Tuesday.
All told, Customs and Border Protection tallied 164,973 encounters with unauthorized migrants last month, up about 7% compared to January.
CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus called the increase — which works out to more than 10,000 additional people in February, a shortened month — a “slight uptick.”
Of those nabbed, 71,210 were Mexican. That’s up more than 40% compared to just a couple of months ago.
Mr. Magnus said the majority of people caught at the border were quickly expelled under the pandemic health emergency order that the Trump administration implemented and which the Biden administration has kept largely in place.
Among the worrying signs in the data was the number of illegal immigrant children traveling without parents. The Border Patrol reported catching 11,810, a 37% increase over January, reversing what had been one of the few bright spots on the border.
Agents nabbed about 25,000 parents and children traveling as families, down about half compared to December.
Other yardsticks of border security also trended in the wrong direction, with heroin seizures spiking 173% in February. Cocaine seizures were up 83%, and methamphetamine seizures rose 97%. But fentanyl, which has been shattering records, actually dropped 21%.
Authorities say increases in people and drugs being seized means more people and drugs are getting through.