U.S. Border Patrol stops a group of 1,036 migrants fleeing violence in Central America

EL PASO, Texas (FOX 5 NY) - A group of hundreds of migrants crossed the Rio Grande and illegally entered the United States in El Paso, Texas, early in the morning on May 29, 2019, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

U.S. Border Patrol agents detained the migrants between Bridge of the Americas and Stanton Street Bridge at about 4 a.m., officials said.

The group of 1,036 people from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador had 934 family members, 63 unaccompanied children and 39 single adults, CBP said.

Agents took them into custody for processing and medical screenings.

"The apprehension of 1,036 individuals in a single group—the largest group ever encountered by Border Patrol agents—demonstrates the severity of the border security and humanitarian crisis at our Southwest border," Deputy Commissioner Robert E. Perez said in a statement. "The dedicated men and women of CBP, and in particular the U.S Border Patrol, are doing their very best every day to address the influx of family units and unaccompanied children."

CBP has either apprehended or encountered more than 530,000 foreign migrants at ports of entry on the Southwest border since Oct. 1, 2018, the start of the fiscal year, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras comprise the Northern Triangle of Central America, considered one of the most dangerous places on earth.

The violence in these countries has caused unprecedented levels of migration, according to Amnesty International. 

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees calls this a "humanitarian crisis."

This story was produced in New York City.