US officials say they have detained more than 47,000 unaccompanied
minors trying to illegally enter the country in the eight months ending in late
May 2014 - nearly twice the number detained in the 12-month period ending in
late September 2013.
Some enter the country and request asylum. Others contact
relatives already in the United States and petition to remain.
There has also been an increase in the number of mothers
travelling with their children, officials say.
According to report, up to 80 percent of the Central American
migrants rely on very dangerous on human smuggling networks. These smugglers routinely
engage in physical and sexual abuse and extortion of these innocent young women
and men.
In Washington, a group of lawmakers proposed spending
between $130 million and $230 million for security and economic programs in
Central America to help stem the tide of undocumented migrants.
The White House also said the US government would allocate
more money to hold and process the children and the adults who smuggle them
across the border, and provide $9.6 million to help Central American
governments reintegrate the repatriated children.
Guatemala says around 1,550 of its emigrant children are
currently in shelters in Texas and Arizona.
US Vice-President Joe Biden met Salvadoran President
Salvador Sanchez Ceren, Mexico’s interior secretary, and a senior Honduran
official to discuss the immigration crisis, the White House said.
President Barack Obama on Thursday spoke with his Mexican
counterpart Enrique Pena Nieto ahead of Biden’s meetings to discuss a “regional
strategy” to tackle the problem.
Source: Agencies
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