The Rio Grande Valley (RGV) sector stretches 320 river miles, covering 19 counties in the state of Texas. For many years, the region has been a major destination for migrants seeking asylum in the United States.
"RGV agents have encountered 25 groups of more than 100 people illegally entering the country this calendar year," the release said on Monday. "March has been a very active month for RGV, as illegal alien apprehensions thus far have surpassed February’s total number."
The latest CBP data shows that 100,441 migrants were apprehended at the US southern border in February, a significant jump from 78,442 migrants that were apprehended in January. About 97,108 undocumented migrants have been apprehended in the Rio Grande Valley between October and February.
The significant increase in the monthly total of apprehensions in the Rio Grande Valley sector indicates that the overall number of apprehensions in the southern border in March will show a continuing spike in apprehensions as the federal government grapples with handling the worsening situation.
On Saturday, CBP agents in the sector apprehended a total of nearly 300 migrants from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico and Belize.
A total of 396,958 migrants have been apprehended at the US southern border in fiscal year 2021, which began in October.