Migrant border crossings increased in November after three-month downward trend

The number of migrants taken into U.S. custody along the southern border increased in November after a three-month downward trend, driven largely by an uptick in illegal crossings by adults traveling without children, according to government figures released Friday.

After reaching levels not seen in two decades over the summer, border apprehensions decreased consecutively in August, September and October. But last month, officials along the U.S.-Mexico border stopped unauthorized migrants over 173,000 times, a 5% increase from October.

The jump in border apprehensions was also fueled by a record number of arrivals from Nicaragua and Venezuela, which virtually tied Guatemala as the second-largest source of migrants in November, surpassing Honduras and El Salvador.