US BORDER IMMIGRATION
U.S. Border Patrol: Immigrant children and families arrests at border soar 52 percent. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT via Getty Images)

According to statistics released by the U.S. Border Patrol nearly 10,000 unaccompanied minors and families were arrested in the month of August, a 52 percent jump from last year.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Monday that the administration is surprised and concern about the surge of arrests.

"We have seen over the last year a precipitous decline in the number of unaccompanied children attempting to enter this country without proper documentation and we have seen just in the last month, in the month of August, a surprising uptick." Earnest said.

It remains unclear what caused the spike, because illegal border crossings typically drops in August due to weather conditions.

"In August, the numbers decline because of the weather patterns. Instead, we saw an increase. So that is something that is concerning.”" Earnest added.

The AP reported that "the Border Patrol arrested 6,424 unaccompanied immigrant children and families in August 2014." and Adam Isacson, a border expert and senior analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America, said "the 4,632 unaccompanied children caught at the border last month is the highest number his agency has recorded for the month of August since their records began in 2009."

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