The number of illegal immigrants stopped along the southwestern border shot up to nearly 165,000 in February, an increase of 6.6 percent over January, according to monthly data released by Customs and Border Protection. 

Border officials encountered 164,973 people along the US-Mexico frontier last month, 30 percent of whom had at least one prior interaction with border officials within the past 12 months. 

There was a smaller increase (4.7 percent) in the unique number of people encountered, to 116,678 in February from 111,437 in January.

While the number of family units stopped in February decreased from 31,998 to 26,582, the number of unaccompanied children encountered shot up by a massive 37 percent to more than 12,000.

Roughly 55 percent (91,513) of the migrants encountered were processed for expulsion under the Title 42 public health authority, while 73,460 were processed under Title 8. It is unclear how many migrants were released into the US.

February’s spike — a 63 percent jump from February 2021 — mimics the historical trend of attempted crossings rising in the early part of each year before peaking in late spring or early summer. Last year, the number of apprehensions peaked in July at more than 213,000. From that point, the number of encounters declined for three consecutive months before spiking again in November and December, then dropping in January.

Republicans were quick to slam the administration for the rise on Tuesday, accusing it of refusing to secure the border.

“This is a 63% increase from February 2021 and a 350% increase from February 2020. Despite record illegal border crossings in 2021, the Biden Admin refuses to secure the border so the problem gets worse. This is a shameful dereliction of duty,” Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.) tweeted. 

“164,973 border encounters in February, a 63% INCREASE from last February’s total,” wrote Chad Gilmartin, spokesman for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). 

“2,276,921 illegal border crossings, so far, under the Biden-Harris administration. February was the TWELFTH consecutive month with over 100K encounters.”

“Biden’s border crisis is out of control. Nearly 165,000 illegal immigrants were encountered at the southern border last month, the highest total for February in the history of the Department of Homeland Security,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement. “Joe Biden and Democrats’ reckless open border agenda created this crisis, and American families are paying the price with more violent crime, dangerous drugs, and millions of illegal immigrants crossing the southern border.”

The increase in attempted border crossings comes as the Biden administration attempts to grapple with several crises at home and abroad, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, soaring inflation and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Last month, Vice President Kamala Harris traveled to Europe ahead of the Russian invasion to emphasize the administration’s commitment to NATO and Ukraine. 

At the time, the vice president — and Biden’s so-called border czar — was heavily criticized by Republicans for jetting off while the border crisis in the US was ongoing. 

“Biden is deploying Kamala Harris to Europe to help ease Russia-Ukraine tensions,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) tweeted, adding sarcastically: “Right, because she’s doing so well with our southern border…”

Harris returned to the region earlier this month, meeting with the leaders of Poland and Romania, reaffirming the US commitment to imposing severe sanctions against Russia.