New statistics from US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reveal that illegal immigration by both family units and unaccompanied immigrant minors has massively increased in the first two months of the 2016 fiscal year when compared with the same two months last year.
The CPB statistics reveal that there has been an increase of as much as 106% in the number of unaccompanied undocumented immigrants under the age of 18 caught crossing the US southern border between October 1st and November 30th this year when compared with figures from the first two months of the 2015 fiscal year. The federal agency has released statistics showing that 10,588 unaccompanied minors were caught at the southern border between the United States and Mexico, compared with just 5,129 minors during the same time period last year.
The massive increase appears to have been concentrated in Yuma in Arizona and Big Bend in Texas, both of which saw an increase of over 500%. Third in line for the biggest recorded increase was the El Paso sector, which saw a rise of 250%.
The figures also point to the fact that there has been an even bigger rise in the number of immigrant families caught at the US border, with an increase of 173% for October and November. 12,505 families were apprehended in these two months, compared with 4,577 just 12 months earlier.
CBP said that even though the statistics show increasing levels of illegal immigration, the Obama administration is working “aggressively| to secure the border.