DEL RIO, Texas—Border Patrol agents encountered a record number of unaccompanied children who crossed the southern border illegally and without a parent or guardian in 2021. From January through December, agents apprehended more than 169,000 children under the age of 18—a record that more than doubled the previous all-time high in 2019, according to Customs and Border Protection data. The “troubling trend” is continuing into 2022, according to Jason Owens, the Border Patrol Chief for the Del Rio sector in Texas. “From Friday to Sunday, over 70 unaccompanied children have been found traveling alone or with complete strangers. Many tell us they have no idea where their parents currently are!” Owens wrote on Twitter earlier this month. In some cases, children have been found wandering alone and lost in remote areas of the border after being abandoned. Many had a phone number or address of a contact in the United …