Number of family members seeking asylum at the border has already surged past last year’s number

“We’ve already exceeded the fiscal year 2017 high-water mark,” Todd Owens, U.S. Customs and Border Protection executive assistant commissioner of field operations, told reporters during a call Monday morning.

The current fiscal year is on track to hit or surpass 2016, when more than 45,000 people showing up as part of a family made asylum requests from one of the southwest border’s 46 ports of entry. CBP has not shared data on the number of family units being apprehended between ports of entry who are then applying for asylum.

CBP data released last week showed 42,565 people were apprehended or deemed inadmissible in the month of June. That was the first month since February that that figure has dropped below 50,000. In May, just under 52,000 migrants were either turned away at border stations or taken into custody by Border Patrol agents and CBP officers.

The Trump administration rolled out a zero tolerance policy in April to say it would be prosecuting all illegal entrants, including first-time offenders who were traveling with minors. Since then, border officials have advocated for people seeking asylum not to enter between ports but instead surrender at international crossing points, where the families will be kept together through the proceedings.

“At the ports of entry, the zero tolerance policy has had no impact or change on how we carry out our mission at the ports of entry. The policy applies to those who cross illegally. if you arrive at the ports of entry seeking asylum, you have not committed an illegal act,” Owens said.

“Despite what you may have heard, we never turn away individuals seeking asylum at a port of entry and we do not deny those claims at the port,” he added.