PHOENIX — Data released Wednesday showed Border Patrol apprehended 203 percent more people this March than it did in the same month last year.

The numbers, released by the U.S. Customs and Border Security, also showed a 37 percent increase compared to the amount of apprehensions in February.

Border Patrol captured a total of 37,393 individuals in March, it apprehended 26,663 in February and 25,978 in January.

More than 11 percent of the apprehensions were unaccompanied children, and just under 24 percent of the total number were family units.

The March statistics brought the total number of captures along the southwest border to 173,599 people for the fiscal year.

This year’s spike was in stark contrast to last year. In March 2017, the Border Patrol reported 16,588 apprehensions, one of the lowest numbers since 2013.

The new numbers came as President Donald Trump signed a proclamation that ordered officials to send between 2,000 and 4,000 National Guard members to the U.S.-Mexico border to help federal officials fight illegal immigration and drug trafficking.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, along with the governors from New Mexico and Texas, backed Trump’s call for a National Guard presence along the southern border.

This would be less than the 6,400 National Guard members that President George W. Bush sent to the border between 2006 and 2008.