Almost One Million Migrants Arrested at US Border

The number of migrants detained at the border between the United States and Mexico reached 972,000 people between October 2018 to September 2019, according to Mark Morgan of the Office of Customs and Border Protection,

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This represents an increase of 88 percent over the same period of last year, and only in September, border agents intercepted at least 52,000 migrants, about 65 percent less than last May, of about 144,000.

"Those are numbers that no immigration system in the world is prepared to handle," Morgan said at a press conference at the White House.

Despite the increase from last year, in the recent four months there was a "constant decrease" which he argued could respond to the agreement signed with Mexico, which restricts the arrival of asylum seekers to the United States.

The number of arrivals is the highest over the last 12 years and the U.S. agency attributes it to the peak of arrests of migrants from Central America, intercepted by the U.S. authorities, especially in March, April and May.

In addition, Morgan acknowledged that the cooperation from the Mexican government, under the presidency of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has been "incredible" and "for the history books."

The largest number of migrant arrests was in 2000 with 1.6 million arrests. However, U.S. authorities warn that the contexts are different as at the time most of the migrants were adults, while now many the majority of those attempting on cross teh border are families with children.