U.S. expects 2 million migrants at southern border in 2021 fiscal year

WASHINGTON, March 31 (Xinhua) -- The United States is expected to encounter about 2 million migrants at the southern border by the end of the 2021 fiscal year, a record high since 2010, local media said Wednesday.

Up to 1.1 million single adults are expected through September, along with around 828,000 families and more than 200,000 unaccompanied children, according to internal government estimates reviewed by CNN.

Border Patrol encounters are expected to continue to rise month-by-month, according to the projections, which can vary, said the CNN report.

U.S. Border Patrol encounters are also expected to be largely made up of single adults, who are being turned away at the U.S. southern border as soon as they're encountered under a public health order, and as a result, might also account for repeat crossers, the report added.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials project that some 159,000 to 184,000 unaccompanied migrant children could arrive at the southwest border in fiscal year 2021, according to a Reuters report on Wednesday.

Deputy Chief of the Border Patrol Raul Ortiz told reporters on Tuesday that the agency expects to encounter more than 1 million migrants this fiscal year, which began on Oct. 1, 2020.

The last time Border Patrol apprehensions surpassed 1 million was in fiscal year 2006, according to data from Customs and Border Protection. Border Patrol arrests also climbed during the 2019 border crisis, but fell short of 900,000.