ReliefWeb

Numbers are down, but record arrivals continue. And Mexico’s crackdown is cause for concern

By Adam Isacson

In March, U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 3,138 unaccompanied children on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico. Of that number, 1,070 kids were Mexican citizens. 579 were from El Salvador, 1,084 were from Guatemala, and 368 were from Honduras.

3,138 children crossing a border without a parent sounds like a very high number—and by historic standards, it is—yet it is less than half the 7,176 unaccompanied children whom Border Patrol reported apprehending in March 2014.