More than 1,000 Migrants Detained After Trying to Cross US Border Illegally

A caravan-sized group of more than 1,000 people was taken into federal custody in western Texas Wednesday after illegally crossing from Mexico into the United States, marking the largest single group Border Patrol has ever taken into custody at once.

Agents encountered 1,036 people, primarily from Central America, near El Paso, Texas, early Wednesday morning, a senior Border Patrol official told the Washington Examiner. The group included 63 children travelling without a parent or guardian. Another 39 people were single adults, and the remaining 934 claimed to be travelling with a family member.

Just over half of the detainees were revealed to be Guatemalan citizens. The rest are primarily from other Central American countries, including Honduras and El Salvador. It is unclear whether the group came from Northern Triangle countries as part of a caravan, though it's not likely, given that there has been no news of a convoy travelling through Mexico. Border Patrol has said human smugglers often oversee the movement of migrants at the border and use the groups to distract federal law enforcement while they move narcotics or people hoping to avoid arrest over unmanned parts of the border. Smugglers charge migrants an average of $5,000 to $8,000 each to get to the United States.

READ MORE: US to Impose 5% Tariff on All Goods Coming From Mexico Over Illegal Immigration

Until Wednesday, the biggest group of people to arrive at once consisted of more than 430 individuals. That apprehension took place Monday in the same region of the southern border. Memorial Day marked the busiest day in history for Border Patrol's El Paso region as 2,200 people were taken into custody.

Overall numbers of undocumented immigrants crossing the border both legally, by presenting themselves at ports of entry, or illegally, by crossing between ports of entry, have skyrocketed in recent months. Both March and April saw numbers above 100,000, the highest in over 12 years. One DHS official, cited by NBC News, said the agency expects May to breach 120,000 in the number of immigrants apprehended and deemed inadmissible.