Record number of undocumented immigrants detained at the southern border in May

Migrants at the southern border.
(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

In May, more than 144,000 undocumented immigrants crossed the southern border, Customs and Border Protection officials said Wednesday, the highest monthly total in more than a decade.

This was the third month in a row that more than 100,000 migrants were detained at the border, with 132,000 arrested while entering the country and 12,000 turning themselves in at ports of entry. There has been a surge of migrants arriving from Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, and in May, most were traveling as family units.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.