Migrant encounters over 200,000 again in August, as border surge continues

FIRST ON FOX: There were more than 200,000 migrant encounters at the southern borderin August, a DHS source told Fox News on Wednesday, the second month in a row where the number has been over the 200,000 mark as migrants continue to attempt to enter the U.S.

The source told Fox that there were 208,887 encounters in August. While it marks the first decrease in migrant encounters seen under the Biden administration, where migrant encounters have been sharply rising for months, it is only a 2% drop over the more than 212,000 encounters in July.

Additionally, the 208,887 number for August represents a 317% increase over last August 2020 which saw 50,014 encounters — and a 233% increase over August 2019, where there were 62,707 amid that year's border crisis.

In August, 49% of apprehensions were single adults, down 7% from July, and 44% were expelled via Title 42 public health protections put in place under the Trump administration and extended by the Biden administration.