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Border Report: Illegal Immigration of Unaccompanied Minors Grew by 77 Percent in 2014
The number of unaccompanied minors crossing the border from Mexico grew by 77 percent during fiscal year 2014, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A total of 68,541 minors were detained as they tried to enter the country between Oct. 1, 2013 and Sept. 30 of this year, compared with 38,759 during the previous fiscal year, CBP said.
This increase was chiefly due to the migratory crisis during the spring and summer, which peaked in June when more than 10,000 minors arriving from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico crossed the nation’s southern border unaccompanied.
That flood of migrants declined over the following months due to steps taken by the government of Barack Obama, who described the situation as an “urgent humanitarian situation,” and because of the soaring temperatures and the messages issued by the migrants’ countries of origin warning about the dangers of the journey.
In July, the number of minors detained crossing the border dropped by half, 5,501, while in August the amount ebbed to 3,141, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said Thursday in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
In September the trend continued and the number of unaccompanied minors crossing the border was down to 2,424, Johnson said during his address.
Nonetheless, in line with warnings already issued by activists and immigration experts, Johnson acknowledged that while the worst is over for now, the economic and social factors that caused the flood of unaccompanied minors in June still exist.
Published in Latino Daily News
Source: http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/latino-daily-news/details/border-report-illegal-immigration-of-unaccompanied-minors-grew-by-77-percen/31303#When:14:04:26Z
