EMERSON, Manitoba-Forty people were caught illegally crossing the international border near Pembina between Tuesday and Friday this past week, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a Saturday statement. The announcement comes amid a recent uptick in refugees crossing the U.S.-Canada border.

Information on the 40 people "intercepted" by Canadian authorities was not included in the release, and the statement said "no further details on age or countries of origin will be provided." Canadian officials did not immediately respond to messages requesting additional information.

The release stated Manitoba authorities have caught 183 people illegally crossing the border since Jan 1.

The announcement by Canadian officials comes amid an uptick in refugees seeking asylum at the U.S.-Canada border. Welcome Place, a refugee agency in Manitoba, resettled 91 people claiming refugee status between Nov. 1 and late January, according to a Reuters report, which is more than a typical year's worth.

Cynthia Shabb, executive director of the Global Friends Coalition-a Grand Forks group dedicated to New American integration-also spoke about the matter last month. She said she suspects most of the surge is people with expired visas filtering through the area, and said she has not heard any talk among local immigrants of joining them.

A late-January CBC report said that surge has largely come since Donald Trump won the White House and has been encouraged by his aggressive immigration policies. An executive order issued by Trump in late January barred foreign nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S. for 90 days, halting refugee entry for 120 days and closing borders to Syrian refugees indefinitely.

A freeze on the order was upheld by a federal appeals court last month. National media reports indicate that a new immigration order is set to be signed on Monday.