Border apprehensions remained at a 20-year high in April, but arrivals of children and families decreased

Fewer unaccompanied minors and families entered U.S. custody along the southern border in April than in March, but the number of overall apprehensions of migrants rose slightly, according to government data released Tuesday. The rise was driven by an increase in single adults, most of whom are being expelled to Mexico.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials at the U.S.-Mexico border made more than 178,000 apprehensions in April, a slight increase from the 173,000 in March. More than 111,000 of those taken into custody were single adults. That demographic has been making up the bulk of recent border apprehensions, which have reached levels not seen in two decades. Nearly 17,200 unaccompanied migrant minors and just over 50,000 parents and children traveling as families entered U.S. border custody in April, both down slightly from March, which saw record arrivals of lone youths.