Usually the border crossing numbers from last month are released near the beginning, or in the middle, of the month, often on a Friday,  the traditional day for burying bad news. This time, they were released on October 22, the fourth Friday of a five-Friday month.

The Washington Post constructed this chart before the release of the official numbers, using "unpublished U.S. Customs and Border Protection data" obtained by them.

They had to issue the following notable correction:

A previous version of this article incorrectly said that Border Patrol arrests along the Mexico border reached their highest levels since 1986. Historical data shows fiscal year 2021’s figure was the highest total ever recorded. The article has been corrected.

[Border arrests have soared to all-time high, new CBP data shows, by Nick Miroff, Washington Post, October 20, 2021]

Here is our own interactive chart:

There's actually a slight downturn in the last calendar month, the delay in posting was all about the Fiscal Year. If there's a downturn this month, it may just mean caravans piling up like container ships off the coast of the U.S.

The caravans are coming and they are literally carrying banners with Joe Biden's name on them.