U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials say agents apprehended more than 30,000 migrants illegally crossing into the United States from Mexico in February.

CBP says those numbers have increased since January, which was around 29,000. However, those numbers are still below those of last year.

CBP says there were more than 66,000 arrests in February 2019. During a news conference Thursday, acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan touched on new numbers.

"So the ninth straight month in a row, we've continued to make incredible progress along the Southwest border," said Morgan.

The uptick comes days after a federal appeals court blocked a policy to have migrants wait in Mexico for their U.S. court dates. The Trump administration argues that the program is helping reduce the number of people illegally crossing the border.