San Diego remains a significant port of entry for immigrants, along with Tucson, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas.

In April, Border Patrol counted 37,370 people who illegally crossed into the San Diego Sector and claimed asylum, leading all sectors. The Tucson Sector retook the top spot in May, with more than 33,000 apprehensions compared with more than 32,000 for San Diego, per Fox News’s Bill Melugin.

The Border Patrol divides the United States into 20 sectors by geography, with nine of them located on the Mexico border. The Tucson Sector reported the second-most apprehensions in April. The El Paso Sector in Texas came in third at roughly 30,400 immigrants.

By the end of fiscal 2023, which ended Sept. 30, nearly 230,000 people seeking asylum crossed illegally into the U.S. at the San Diego Sector. In the first seven months of fiscal 2024, Border Patrol agents counted 220,000 people. The sector is on pace to have the highest annual number of immigrants since the late 1990s, per the New York Times.

Due to the compounding pressures of the growing number of immigrants, a center in San Diego County, which was focused on accommodating people who have crossed the border, closed down in February. The center was operating on a $6 million budget, but now faith-based groups provided $150 million by the state will have to pick up the slack.

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Many of the churches and nonprofit organizations now tasked with helping the new arrivals are struggling to keep up with the influx. As a result, some immigrants are bused by Border Patrol to a trolley hub or the airport and can spend days camped at baggage claim while awaiting a flight to their final destinations.

Texas has worked to pass legislation that gives local and state law enforcement officers the authority to arrest and deport those who have crossed the border illegally. That law has been blocked, but it could have a significant impact on the number of migrant crossings.