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Washington — The number of migrants apprehended by U.S. immigration agents after crossing the southern border illegally has soared to near-record levels in September, posing a major test to the Biden administration's migration strategy, unpublished federal figures obtained by CBS News show.

Border Patrol agents apprehended roughly 140,000 migrants who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border without authorization during the first 20 days of September, an average of about 6,900 each day, according to the internal agency data. That represents a 60% increase from the daily average of 4,300 in July.

The agency is on track to record more than 210,000 migrant apprehensions this month, which would be the highest level since December and May 2022, when Border Patrol reported over 220,000 apprehensions, the current all-time monthly highs. During those record-setting months, Border Patrol apprehended more than 7,000 migrants each day, a level September's average is close to matching.

On Wednesday alone, Border Patrol processed nearly 9,000 migrants, the data show, a daily apprehension level not seen since 10,000 migrants crossed into the U.S. illegally per day during several days in May, before the Biden administration discontinued the Title 42 pandemic-era limits on migration.

The spike in illegal border entries is a significant setback for a web of policies the Biden administration initiated in the hopes of slowing down U.S.-bound migration. Over the past two and a half years, Border Patrol has recorded unprecedented levels of migrant apprehensions, including 2.2 million in fiscal year 2022, a tally that is on track to being matched in fiscal year 2023, which ends at the end of this month.