With two months left to go before the close of Fiscal Year 2016, the number of illegal aliens caught at the Southwest U.S. border so far this fiscal year has officially surpassed the total number apprehended in the entirety of FY2015, according to the latest report from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Another 5,068 unaccompanied alien children were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border during the month of July, bringing the total number of UACs caught by border agents so far this fiscal year to 48,311. That’s a 57 percent increase over the number of unaccompanied alien minors caught during the same time frame in FY2015.
Additionally, another 7,574 illegal alien members of family units were apprehended in July. Border agents report they’ve caught 58,720 members of family units at the Southwest border so far in FY2016 – about 19,000 more than they caught during the entirety of Fiscal Year 2015.
Family member apprehensions this year also represent a 100 percent increase over the same time frame in FY2015, and are just 4,000 apprehensions shy of FY2014 totals, when a wave of illegal immigration at the Southwest U.S. border garnered national attention.
Border agents also report making a total of 33,737 illegal alien apprehensions during the month of July, meaning 12,642 of these – almost exactly half – were single adults crossing without a family member.
In total, CBP reports it’s apprehended 332,360 illegal aliens, including children, family members and single adults, in FY2016. Without factoring in apprehensions from August and September, that’s already about 1,000 more apprehensions than the 331,333 made in the entirety of FY2015.