(The Center Square) – November was another record month for apprehensions and gotaways of people illegally entering the U.S., according to new data released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

There were 233,740 encounters with foreign nationals illegally entering the southwest land border in November, a 1% increase from October, CBP said Friday.

The total excludes the 93,461 gotaways reported in CBP’s internal tracking system, which The Center Square first reported earlier this month after obtaining preliminary data from a Border Patrol agent.

The apprehensions and gotaways combined total at least 327,201 individuals known to illegally enter the U.S. in November.

“Gotaways” is the official term used by CBP to describe foreign nationals who enter the U.S. illegally and don’t surrender at ports of entry but intentionally seek to evade capture from law enforcement. The numbers don’t tell the whole story, those in law enforcement have explained to The Center Square, because they don’t include those who are unknown and unrecorded. Not all gotaways are recorded and many who evade capture are unknown, meaning the number entering the U.S. illegally is greater than what is reported.

Keeping with previous month’s trends, the majority, 67%, illegally entering in November were single adults, totaling 157,202.

The number of encounters of unaccompanied children and family units also increased last month.

Encounters with unaccompanied minors increased 9.4% from October; 13,150 were encountered in November; 12,024 were encountered in October. The average number of unaccompanied children in CBP custody was 597 per day in November compared to 491 a day in October.

Encounters of family unit individuals increased by 5.6% from 59,805 in October to 63,163 in November, according to the data.

Over one-third of those illegally entering through the southwest land border, 35%, were from Cuba or Nicaragua, totaling 68,044. Another 30% were Mexican nationals or citizens of northern Central American countries, totaling 58,559. The remainder were from all over the world.

Despite the record numbers, DHS says it “has been executing a comprehensive and deliberate strategy to secure our borders and build a safe, orderly, and humane immigration system.”

“It’s strategy,” it says, “is based on six pillars: surging resources; increasing efficiency to reduce strain on the border; employing an aggressive consequence regime; bolstering the capacity of NGOs and partner with state and local partners; going after cartels and smugglers; and working with our regional partners.”

While Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has called on the Biden administration to secure the border, describing it as a cartel-driven criminal and humanitarian crisis, the administration maintains its border security plan is “comprehensive” and “leverages a whole-of-government approach to prepare for and manage the current and anticipated increases in encounters of noncitizens at our Southwest border.”

In response to federal inaction, Abbott launched Texas’ border security mission, Operation Lone Star, “to fill the dangerous gaps left by the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border.”

Since OLS launched last March, as of Dec. 22, Texas National Guard, DPS state troopers and local law enforcement have apprehended over 336,000 illegal foreign nationals. They’ve made more than 23,000 criminal arrests, with more than 20,000 felony charges reported. They’ve also seized over 354 million lethal doses of fentanyl, enough to kill more than everyone in the United States.

“Every individual who is apprehended or arrested and every ounce of drugs seized would have otherwise made their way into communities across Texas and the nation due to President Biden’s open border policies,” Abbott says.

On Monday, Abbott called up another 400 Texas National Guard members to assist with a surge of people attempting to illegally enter in El Paso.