Migration to the southern border of the United States from far-off countries spiked in 2021 as economic turmoil and the Biden administration’s eased immigration policies prompted droves from other continents to traverse to America.

The number of people encountered at the southern border from countries other than Mexico or the three top countries of origin in Central America was seven times greater over the past 12 months ending in September than the previous year, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. One-in-5 people, or 378,000 of the 1.7 million, who were encountered at the southern border in the government’s fiscal year 2021 were from nations other than those four.

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