SAN ANTONIO – U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics show nearly 5,000 unaccompanied immigrant children were caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in October, almost double the number from October 2014.
Immigration experts say the numbers, released Tuesday, show that the flow of immigrants from Central America has remained high at a time of year when it usually drops.
Some 6,000 family members traveling together also were apprehended last month — nearly triple from October 2014.
The most families and children apprehended at the border were from El Salvador.
Immigrants are also starting to venture farther west along the Texas border.
Unaccompanied children caught in the Del Rio sector jumped from 120 to 237, while 187 children were apprehended in the remote Big Bend area, up from just 13 a year ago.
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