“In June, 33 percent of migrant encounters involved Mexican citizens, up from 13 percent in May 2019,” the report said. “Migration from countries other than Mexico and the Northern Triangle has also increased in recent months. Around a quarter of all encounters in June (26 percent) involved migrants from other countries, up from 9 percent in May 2019.”
In contrast, people from Northern Triangle countries accounted for 41 percent of encounters in June, down from 78 percent in May 2019, the report said.
PEW based its report on US Border Patrol data from June, reporting nearly 180,000 encounters with migrants along the US-Mexico border in June, the highest monthly total in over two decades. Media reports say the as-yet-unreported July total is likely to hit 210,000.
The report also noted a surge in migration by single adults, which accounted for 64 percent of migrants discovered crossing the border in June, compared with 28 percent in May 2019 while families accounted for 28 percent of border crossers, down from 64 percent in May 2019. Encounters involving unaccompanied minors was largely unchanged.
May 2019 represented the peak of a migration surge that prompted a number of additional border controls imposed by former US President Donald Trump - restrictions largely scrapped by the Biden administration.