U.S. border agents encountered more than 180,000 people at the southwest border in the month of May, according to new numbers posted to the Customs and Border Protection website Wednesday, though a significant number were people who already tried to cross once before.

What You Need To Know

  • U.S. border agents encountered more than 180,000 people at the southwest border in the month of May, a slight increase from April

  • However, many of them were repeat attempts at crossing the border, since the majority of people are still expelled from the U.S. under a public health order

  • March, April and May's numbers of border encounters all represented a two-decade high, but 38% of crossings in May were repeat attempts

  • May also saw a lower number of unaccompanied children crossing the border, and the majority of people were single adults

The newly released statistics represent a 1% increase from April’s 178,000 attempted crossings and another two-decade high, though the majority of people continue to be expelled almost immediately under a pandemic-related health order.

And, as CBP noted Thursday in a press release, the high number of expulsions has led to a “larger-than-usual number of noncitizens making multiple border crossing attempts,” meaning that the monthly total may “overstate the number of unique individuals arriving at the border.”

In May, 38% of people who came in contact with border agents had already tried to enter the United States at least once before, compared to a 15% average in previous years.

Last month also saw a 23% decline in the number of unaccompanied children encountered at the border. Authorities found just over 10,700 kids traveling alone in May, compared to nearly 14,000 the month before.

The Biden administration has continued to allow those children to enter the United States. Officials have made progress in transferring them more quickly out of harsh border facilities and into emergency shelters, despite some questions about the conditions inside those facilities, too.

CBP reported a daily average of 640 kids in border facilities during the month of May, compared to more than 2,000 in April. They also spent less time inside — an average of 26 hours — compared to multiple days in previous months.

The majority of people encountered at the border in May were single adults, most who were promptly turned away under the public health order known as Title 42. Border agents expelled more than 112,000 people last month.

The administration has drawn criticism from immigration advocates for keeping that order in place, preventing thousands of asylum seekers from making their claims inside the United States, which is a legal process.

Earlier this week, Vice President Kamala Harris also drew criticism in Guatemala for telling migrants “do not come” to the border, despite her work on the root causes of migration that often leave people feeling like they have no choice, including violence, corruption and extreme poverty.

The vice president also defended her decision to not yet visit the border herself, despite her focus on immigration, though she said a trip may happen in the near future.