A record-breaking year of migrant apprehensions in the Valley made up a third of all Border Patrol apprehensions nationwide, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

From Oct. 1 2020 to the end of September 2021 , the total number of apprehensions here at the Rio Grande Valley sector is 549,077—almost four times the population of McAllen.

The apprehension is defined by CBP as the physical control or temporary detainment of a person who is not lawfully in the U.S., which may or may not result in an arrest.

From the 549,077 apprehensions, almost half of those, or 257,343, are made up of family members. The smallest percentage accounts for unaccompanied children, but that number is still significant at 76,284. The last category was for single adults at about 215,450 apprehensions.

CBP Chief Brian Hastings said they encountered almost 2,000 criminal migrants, 163 gang members and 187 sex offenders.

While those criminal apprehensions are significant, it should also be said that they only make up less than one percent of all total single adults.

Meanwhile, CBP’s patrol sector here in the Valley also boasts about their seizure of 77,000 pounds of narcotics, which reportedly accounts for more than 43 percent of the Border Patrol's seizures throughout the country.