Numbers Of Unaccompanied Migrant Children Rising At U.S.-Mexico Border

Biden administration officials reported a worrying increase in unaccompanied migrants being apprehended crossing the southwest border to Mexico. In May, Border Patrol agents arrested more than 14,000 unaccompanied minors. These numbers are expected to continue rising in June.

According to the Southwest Land Border Migration Report, Border Patrol agents who patrolled the southwest border with Mexico arrested 14,442 unaccompanied migrants children in May. This is a nearly 22 percent increase over the previous month, and the largest monthly arrest since July 2021.

Breitbart Texas reviewed reports from the Departments of Homeland Security and Health and Human Services and found that the number of unaccompanied migrants is on the rise in June. Border Patrol agents arrested nearly 500 unaccompanied migrants on June 16. This brings the 30-day average of 407 children per day to 407. HHS currently has 10,167 children in custody.

After reaching a peak in July 2021 at 18,954, the unaccompanied child population at the border dropped to 8,751 in January. The number of unaccompanied children apprehended at the border rose to 14,138 in March and almost reached 15,000 by May.

Border Patrol agents arrested 98,654 children unaccompanied between October 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022. This represents a nearly 26 percent increase over FY21.

When President Joe Biden was elected, a dramatic shift occurred in the migrant population. He also changed many of Trump’s immigration and border security policies. In December 2020, President Trump’s last month in office, agents arrested less than 5,000 children who were traveling as migrants without their parent or guardian. This number had risen to over 9,400 by February 28, President Biden’s first full month in office. The next month, it doubled to almost 19,000.

Biden’s administration has reported that more than 220,000 children unaccompanied have been apprehended since February 2021 — an average of almost 14,000 per month.