Nearly 270,000 apprehensions, gotaways at southern border in March

There were nearly 270,000 apprehensions and gotaways reported of foreign nationals who illegally entered the U.S. at the southern border last month, according to official data released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and data The Center Square obtained from a Border Patrol agent.

CBP reported that encounters of illegal foreign nationals processed at ports of entry in all nine southwest Border Patrol sectors in March totaled 191,900, up nearly 23% from 156,138 in February.

However, these numbers don’t include data on gotaways, those who illegally enter between ports of entry and actively seek to evade capture of law enforcement who are reported by Border Patrol and Office of Field Operations officers in an internal system. Earlier this month, The Center Square reported on preliminary data that showed there were nearly 245,000 apprehensions and gotaways reported at the southern border. That number is actually higher because it excludes Office of Field Operations data.