Hi, I'm Dan Pramak and welcome to Axios Recap.

Today is Tuesday, March 23rd.

Gas prices are up to a three-year high.

AstraZeneca stock is down and we're focused on America's border crisis.

Two months into his presidency, Joe Biden is facing his first major test that doesn't have anything,

or at least not much, to do with COVID-19.

It's the surging number of undocumented immigrants at the border, including thousands of unaccompanied minors.

It's both a humanitarian and political crisis,

with lots more questions than answers about the administration's plan to address it.

Three things to know.

First, U.S. customs officials report a 28% increase in apprehended migrants between January and February of this year.

It's a big number, but for context, the 2019 figure was a little higher at 31%.

On the other hand, the number of unaccompanied minors in that period is up 61%, which blows away

past increases.

And to be clear, we're comparing to 2019 because all the numbers were down in 2020 due to the pandemic.

It's certainly true that Biden's immigration rhetoric is much more welcoming than that of his

predecessor.

Plus, migration always tends to increase as the weather warms, typically peaking in May.

Those are what we'd call poll factors.

But don't discount the push factors, like the giant December hurricane in Honduras

that left thousands homeless and has caused food shortages throughout Central America.

Three, Biden has some very lofty, long-term legislative goals on immigration, including a pathway

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