More Than 600 People Apprehended At Mexican Border

EL PASO, TX -- U.S. Border Patrol agents working in El Paso apprehended more than 700 people trying to cross over into the U.S. over the past 48 hours. These groups contained Central American families and unaccompanied juveniles, Border Patrol said in a news release.

Border Patrol agents first apprehended a group of 112 people attempting to enter the U.S. illegally.

"At about the same time agents working further east were processing a group of 252 [people] apprehended at the border just west of Bowie High School," Border Patrol said. "Throughout the morning hours [Wednesday] several smaller groups also arrived at multiple locations along the border in the El Paso metropolitan area. In just a few hours the total number taken into custody exceeded 500."

Border Patrol also apprehended an unaccompanied 2-year old child and is currently working with international and domestic agencies in order to locate the parents. Two convicted sex offenders attempting to enter illegally while the agents were preoccupied with the large groups were also apprehended. Both subjects had been convicted of their sex offenses and had served time in jail before being deported from the U.S., Border Patrol added.

The El Paso border sector has seen the number of apprehensions of inadmissible family unitsincrease 1,689 percent when compared to same period last year, Border Patrol added. Visit this website for more data on border crossings.