153,941 migrants stopped at border in January, nearly double from a year ago

The number of migrants stopped by authorities at the southern border in January was nearly double the corresponding number from the month President Joe Biden took office one year ago, indicating the scale of the crisis.

U.S. border officials encountered 153,941 people who attempted to enter the United States from Mexico illegally between land ports of entry or were denied admission at the ports, according to a new court document filed in Texas v. Biden. That number is down from recent months but far higher than the 78,414 seen in January of 2021. The large majority, nearly 147,000 people, came across in unfenced areas where Border Patrol agents work.