September alone also broke monthly records on the border, with 269,735 apprehensions recorded, according to new figures released by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The record had previously been set in December 2022, which saw 252,315 people try to cross into the US. The third highest month recroded was August this year with 232,963 people.

Border officers saw over 2.4 million encounters in the last fiscal year ending on September 30, according to the federal agency’s stats — capping off the third year in a row southern border apprehension numbers smashed records set the year before.