By Steve Neavling
The number of migrants apprehended along the southern border in August reached record levels, casting doubts about the effectiveness of a new Biden administration policy designed to deter migration, according to preliminary data reported by The Washington Post.
Border Patrol agents arrested about 91,000 migrants who were accompanied by family members along the border last month. The previous record, set under the Trump administration, was 84,486 in May 2019.
Under a Biden administration rule that began in May, migrants are required to seek protection in Mexico before attempting to do so in the U.S.
The rule was adopted after the expiration of the pandemic-era limits on asylum known as Title 42.
For the second month in a row, total border apprehensions have increased following a sharp decline in May and June.
Agents apprehended an estimated 177,000 migrants at the border in August, an increase from 132,652 in July and 99,539 in June.
If the preliminary numbers hold up, August will be the first month since Biden became president that the number of migrants crossing into the U.S. illegally with family groups have eclipsed the number of undocumented single adults or unaccompanied minors to do so.
