More than 200,000 people trying to illegally cross the US-Mexico border in the last four months. They were apprehended by the authorities. According to data released Friday by the US Customs and Border Protection, there has been an increase of about 85% over the same period last year. About half of those detained were families.
They were told by officials that families arrived in large groups by bus, often several hundred people at a time.
A group of about 320 people arrived Thursday in a remote part of the Arizona border near Lukeville. The official said the group was six miles from a port of entry.
According to the data, most families report to the Rio Grande and El Paso areas of Texas, followed by those near Yuma, Arizona.
The majority of families come from Guatemala, followed by Honduras.
About 12,000 migrants were referred for medical care in 2018, and the official said he expects this number to reach 28,000 this year.
President Donald Trump has tried to apply other ways of limiting asylum claims at the border, but has been blocked by the courts.
