Number of Illegal Immigrants Crossing English Channel Triples From 2020

Illegal immigrants carry children as they are escorted to be processed after being picked up by a Royal National Lifeboat Institution lifeboat while crossing the English Channel at a beach in Dungeness, southeast England, on Sept. 7, 2021. Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images

The number of illegal immigrants who have reached the UK this year by crossing the English Channel in small boats is now triple the total for the whole of 2020.

At least 886 people succeeded in reaching the UK on Saturday, the Home Office confirmed on Monday. This brings the total for the year to more than 25,600, according to available official data compiled by the PA news agency.