Unaccompanied Minors Crossing the Border–The Facts

Alex Nowrasteh Over the last few weeks, the media has been abuzz with stories of unaccompanied minors coming across the border and being apprehended by Customs and Border Protections (CBP).  Many of the facts on the ground are fuzzy because we do not have a complete picture of all of the relevant data.  In this post I will lay out several of the relevant facts as they exist.  I will present information that focuses on how the detention facilities are overwhelmed but that it is less likely that border patrol agents on the border are actually overwhelmed. Background The unlawful immigration of minors is not a new phenomenon, although it has increased recently.  CBP released this table showing the large increase in the number of unaccompanied minors that have been encountered (different from “apprehended”): Country Fiscal Year 2009 Fiscal Year 2010 Fiscal Year 2011 Fiscal Year 2012 Fiscal Year 2013 Fiscal Year 2014 El Salvador 1,221 1,910 1,394 3,314 5,990 9,850 Guatemala 1,115 1,517 1,565 3,835 8,068 11,479 Honduras 968 1,017 974 2,997 6,747 13,282 Mexico 16,114 13,724 11,768 13,974 17,240 11,577 Total: 19,418 18,168 15,701 24,120 38,045 46,188 Source: http://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-border-unaccompanied-children The government has not released data for the total number of unauthorized immigrants encountered or apprehended so far in 2014.  As a result, I have to use 2013 data to see how big of an addition unaccompanied m...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs