320 Migrants Apprehended near Border in Texas over 2 Days

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended 320 migrants in three large groups over a two-day period this week. Officials report family units and unaccompanied minors as the overwhelming majority of those detained.

McAllen Station Border Patrol agents working the border near Hidalgo, Texas, encountered three large groups of migrants over the past two days, according to information provided by Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol officials. The agents apprehended more than 300 migrants in the three groups.

The agents received reports of several large groups of migrants crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico into Texas on Monday and Tuesday, officials stated. Agents responded and apprehended a total of 320 migrants.

Those apprehensions included 220 Family Unit Aliens, 86 Unaccompanied Alien Children, and five Single Adult Aliens. Officials report these migrants came to the United States from eight countries including: Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Romania, Venezuela, and the United Kingdom.

The Rio Grande Valley Sector continues to lead the nine southwest Border Patrol sectors in the apprehension of migrants illegally crossing the border into the U.S. So far this year, agents in this sector encountered 44 large-group crossings. Border Patrol defines large groups as 100 or more migrants illegally entering the United States.

In March, agents in this sector apprehended 61,968 of the more than 168,000 migrants apprehended in all nine sectors (37 percent). Those included 35,250 of the 52,904 Family Unit Alien apprehensions (67 percent), and 9,726 of the 18,863 unaccompanied minor apprehensions (52 percent).

For this fiscal year, which began October 1, 2020, Rio Grande Valley Sector agents apprehended 20,964 unaccompanied minors (up 230 percent from the same prior-year period), 52,139 Family Units (up 489 percent from the same prior-year period), and 86,367 single adults (up 176 percent from the same prior-year period). Agents apprehended nearly 160,000 migrants in this single sector who illegally crossed from Mexico into this sector.