With full March border numbers out, I want to re-up and update this thread for any reporters who are writing on the news out of CBP today.

We continue to see two very different phenomena occurring at the border, and it's very important to distinguish between the two! https://twitter.com/ReichlinMelnick/status/1378013664549216260

Single adults continue to be the biggest driver of headlines about "border numbers."

Apprehensions of single adults are going back to the 1990s-2000s, driven by many people crossing repeatedly thanks to Title 42. And like back in the day, almost all get sent back to Mexico.

When it comes to family units, we have seen a distinct increase in families beginning in January. This seems driven both by Mexico's refusal to accept many families that Trump/Biden wanted to expel, as well as a sense that now is the time. It's looking a lot like 2019.

When it comes to unaccompanied children, we really are seeing record numbers, exceeding the spikes we saw in 2014, 2018, and 2019.

Since November 18, 2020, no unaccompanied children have been expelled under Title 42. But numbers had been increasing even during the expulsions.

When we take into account the number of people actually expelled back to Mexico and just look at those who are being processed under normal immigration laws, things suddenly look very different.

Families and children are half of 2019 and the border is far less "open" than 2019.

To sum this up:

- The biggest driver of "big numbers" headlines is single adults, which began last year. Almost all are rapidly expelled.
- Families and kids is looking a lot like 2019, with more unaccompanied children offset by fewer families, especially due to expulsions.

Keep in mind that dealing with single adult crossers is the Border Patrol's bread and butter. They dealt with this volume for nearly a half-century. But since 2013, they've made few attempts to handle more families and kids coming—and kids locked in cells is the result.

Finally, we have to keep in mind that the Biden administration has continued to expel families encountered at the border, even those who are seeking asylum.

Last month, there were nearly 19,000 expulsions of families to Mexico. https://twitter.com/adam_wola/status/1380178026244231176

One last addendum; for those reading this thread who aren't fully clear about what "Title 42" is, we @immcouncil have a fact sheet for you! https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/research/guide-title-42-expulsions-border