Seeking Safety: Understanding the Challenges Faced by Unaccompanied Children Migrating to the U.S.: Part 1

By Yaslin Perez

Three sisters—Henesis (14), Nicole (13), and Valeria (8)—traveled 1,500 miles from Chiapas, Mexico, to reunite with their mother in the United States.[1] Ten-year-old Yosell and his nine-year-old brother Joseph traveled for over a month from Honduras to the United States with only their grandparents' phone number written on Yosell’s hat.[2]However, not all children make it—14-year-old Christopher Alvarado from Honduras drowned while crossing the Rio Grande while his 16-year-old sister watched.[3] Thousands of unaccompanied minors are making the dangerous trek to the United States border from countries such as Mexico and the Northern Triangle – Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. What compels these children to embark on such a dangerous journey to the United States?

The Homeland Security Act of 2002 defines “unaccompanied alien children” (UAC) as minors under the age of 18 who lack lawful immigration status in the United States and are either without a parent or legal guardian in the U.S. or without a parent or guardian able to provide care and custody.[4]In 2023, U.S. Border Patrol and the Office of Field Operations recorded 137,275 encounters with unaccompanied minors at the Southwest border.[5]In 2022, there were 152,057, and in 2021, there were 146,925.[6] Over the past three years, approximately 93% of these encounters involved children from Mexico and the Northern Triangle.[7] The age breakdown of the children is as follows: 16% are ages 0-12 years, 13% are between 13 and 14 years, 36% fall within the 15–16-year age range, and 35% are 17 years or older.[8] In terms of gender distribution, 64% of the children are male, while 36% are female.[9] This article will explore the reasons behind why children leave their home countries alone, the dangers they encounter during their journey, and the challenges they face once they are in the custody of the United States.

A.       Factors Driving Migration to the United States

The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has examined the push factors behind the out-migration of UAC identifying crime, economic instability, poverty, and the prevalence of violent transnational gangs in their home countries as significant contributors.[10] The CRS also explored the pull factors drawing UAC to the U.S., including economic opportunities, family reunification, and the more favorable treatment of non-Mexican migrant children under U.S. immigration law.[11]

        A.1:       Northern Triangle – Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras

A 2023 Congressional Report showed that difficult security conditions and socioeconomic circumstances appear to be the most important motives for migration from the Northern Triangle to the United States.[12] Homicide rates surged dramatically in the 2000s as the region became a key transit route for South American narcotics heading to the United States.[13] Gangs like Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and the 18th Street gang (M-18) frequently use violent turf wars as a means to “control local drug distribution, extortion, and other illicit activities.”[14] Gangs target young people for recruitment, which forces them to decide whether to undergo brutal gang initiations and inevitable exploitation or flee the country.[15] These gangs exploit the residents, which includes “setting up checkpoints to demand tolls, extorting local businesses, and seizing homes, which they turn into casas locas, or crazy houses, where they often drink alcohol, initiate recruits, and sexually abuse women and children.”[16]

Of note are recent events in El Salvador, where gang violence remains at historically low levels after the administration of President Nayib Bukele initiated a state of emergency in 2022, which led to the arrest of more than 72,000 people.[17]In 2023, the government opened a new mega-prison.[18]Although the crackdown against gangs has been very popular within El Salvador, there are concerns about wrongfully detained individuals and civil liberties.[19]  Since gang violence is a push factor for migration, its reduction could reduce such migration. 

Land ownership and economic power in the Northern Triangle have long been dominated by a small elite, resulting in deep inequality and poverty.[20] While economic reforms in the 1980s and 1990s brought stability, they failed to improve living conditions for most, and with large youth populations entering the workforce, many may face limited job prospects in the informal sector or are forced to seek opportunities elsewhere.[21] Climate change events like extreme weather, deforestation, and rising temperatures worsen poverty and instability in the region.[22] In 2020, two major hurricanes caused billions in damage, displacing 500,000 people and devastating crops, leaving 7.9 million facing food insecurity in 2021.[23]

        A.2:       Mexico

A UN survey found that 90 percent of Mexicans leave their country due to violence, extortion, or organized crime.[24]Thousands of Mexicans die in the battle between drug cartels and Mexico each year.[25]Mexico has had more than 431,000 homicides since 2006, when the Mexican government declared war on the cartels.[26]Mexico also faces a crisis of kidnapping—disappearances which are largely caused by gangs and drug cartels.[27]As of 2022, nearly 90,000 people have disappeared since 2006, primarily at the hands of criminal organizations, though government forces also play a role.[28]  In 2014, 43 students from Guerrero were abducted and have been presumed murdered.[29]

Organized criminal groups “exploit thousands of children in Mexico to serve as lookouts, carry out attacks on authorities and rival groups, perform fuel theft, or work in poppy fields.”[30] In recent years, vigilante groups called “autodefensas” have stepped in where security forces have fallen short, becoming a powerful force against cartels in states like Guerrero and Michoacán.[31] However, these groups have faced criticism for committing human rights abuses, such as recruiting child fighters.[32] Nongovernmental organizations and media “reported occurrences of sexual exploitation of minors, including child sex tourism in resort towns and northern border areas,”[33] and “local experts report an especially high prevalence of child sex trafficking in Tlaxcala, Mexico, where parents or other family members are often complicit in facilitating these crimes.”[34]

B.       The Dangerous Journey

           Children trying to enter the United States “face long dangerous trips without their parents or guardians,” and “travel over 1000 miles and cross several borders on foot, by bus, or atop freight trains,” with travel times up to two months.[35] They face risks of exploitation, trafficking, violence, and death. If the children are travelling with a group, the risk of being separated is high, thus the dangers of cartels, trafficking, and assault are higher.[36] Further, the children may also experience:

• Hazardous train rides

• Robbery, assault, and intimidation by gangs and thieves

• Coercion or abuse by adults referred to as “coyotes”

• Sexual violence

• Exposure to the elements without proper supplies and gear and

• Hunger, thirst, and exhaustion.[37]

The journey to the United States is not free: mentally, physically, and financially. If a migrant, or in this case a child, decided to travel with a coyote, “the going price is $5,000 to $7,000 for a package deal for an adult and a child.”[38]A coyote, “the Wolf”, states that his rate to smuggle children is $2500 for 1200 miles, and an extra $500-$1000 “depending on the size of the kid.”[39]Many parents feel they have no other option but to send their children alone due to the conditions of their home country as explained above. They see it as a desperate but necessary measure to ensure their children’s survival. If they lack the funds, the parents typically seek loans from family and friends.  However, some children already have their parents waiting for them in the U.S., such as the three sisters previously mentioned above.[40]While the Wolf states that he tries to treat his clients well, not all children receive good treatment.[41] Coyotes transporting children may commit violent acts against children. While they risk their lives to guide migrants, some exploit their vulnerability, abandoning them, extorting families, or subjecting them to deadly, inhumane conditions.[42]

When migrants, including minors, arrive in the cities near the Mexican border, they are targets for kidnapping and extortion.[43] These criminals will extort thousands of dollars from the families of the migrants.[44] It is estimated that “Salvadorans pay more than US$390 million a year in extortion fees, while Hondurans pay around $200 million and Guatemalans an estimated $61 million,” and “failure to pay can result in harassment, violence, or death.”[45] Several minors have “witnessed the murders of other migrants who tried to flee or whose family were not sending enough ransom.”[46]

C.       Arrival to the United States

Prior to 2003, the Immigration and Naturalization Service (“INS”) “was the agency responsible for the custody and care of unaccompanied minors,” but was also the primary immigration law enforcement agency, meaning it prosecuted the same undocumented minors for unlawful entry.[47] The responsibilities of caregiver and prosecutor were  “two irreconcilable and competing functions.”[48] Allegations of mistreatment of unaccompanied minors in INS care led to a series of lawsuits, including Flores v. Sessions, which resulted in the 1997 Flores Agreement, setting standards for the care and treatment of minors in INS detention.[49]

The Homeland Security Act of 2002 transitioned the responsibility for the custody and care of unaccompanied minors to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) within the Administration for Children and Families, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).[50]The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA) requires children from noncontiguous countries (e.g., the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) to be transferred to ORR care within 72 hours.[51]More than half of the children reported that they were detained at the border for more than 72 hours, despite the Flores Settlement Agreement requiring that minors remain in CBP custody no more than 72 hours.[52] 

A report shows that more than 4 out of 5 children reported CBP mistreatment, which includes:

• Cold temperatures that spread illness because the children usually come in with wet clothes, and are only provided flimsy mylar aluminum blankets to keep warm.

• Lack of food and water: Most children were given food two or three times each day, but they often did not eat because the food was frozen, rotten, or generally inedible. A child reported that they would receive a small water bottle, and often wouldn’t receive another until the next day.

• Overcrowding in the Cells: reports show that cells would be so full that children were not able to sit down. A young girl reported that there were only two toilets for 55 girls.

• Lack of Dental Hygiene and Showers: A young boy reported that he was detained for nine days and was only able to brush his teeth and shower once.[53]

Afterward, the children are released into the care of the ORR. As of September 2024, there are 6,360 children in ORR care.[54]While the ORR’s mission is to protect and care, there have been issues of mistreatment, inadequate care, and vulnerabilities in the system. The ORR is supposed to place minors in the least restrictive settings appropriate to their age and needs as opposed to jail-like conditions as mandated by the TVPRA. The ORR also provides classroom education, mental and medical health services, case management, recreation, and unification services to family members or other sponsors who can care for them.[55]

The children stay an average of three months in the shelter before they are released to go live with an adult or sponsor.[56] The ORR facility staff are required to issue “Significant Incident Reports” (SIRs) to document a wide array of incidents ranging from disclosure of past abuse or neglect to minor rule infractions. In 2021, a survey of dozens of SIRs revealed that:

• ORR facilities often over-report incidents through Significant Incident Reports (SIRs), documenting minor infractions like failure to follow rules or expressing frustration, rather than serious threats to children’s safety and health.

• SIRs rarely consider the trauma or stressful conditions children face in custody. For instance, expressing a desire to reunite with family can result in an SIR, labeling the child as a "flight risk" and extending their detention.

• SIRs frequently keep children in restrictive settings, punishing them for trauma responses or mental health issues, which exacerbates their conditions and prolongs their stay in ORR custody.[57]

Moreover, the children have also suffered abuse at housing facilities funded by the ORR. The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Southwest Key Programs Inc, a Texas based nonprofit that provided housing to unaccompanied children.[58] The lawsuit alleges that Southwest Key, through its employees, engaged in a pattern of sexual abuse and harassment of children in violation of the Fair Housing Act from 2015 to at least 2023.[59] The Department of Human Services stated that they would continue to work with the DOJ to hold its caregiving programs like Southwest Key accountable.[60] U.S. Attorney Alamadar S. Hamdini stated, “[i]n search of the American Dream, children often endure perilous journeys on their migration north to the southern border . . . The sexual harassment alleged in the complaint would destroy any child’s sense of safety, turning what was an American Dream into a nightmare.”[61]

Conclusion

Unaccompanied children from Mexico and the Northen Triangle face overwhelming challenges as they seek safety in the United States. Driven by violence, poverty, and political instability, these minors embark on a dangerous journey, risking exploitation, trafficking, and possible death. Once in U.S. custody, they encounter a complex system that often falls short in addressing their needs and which exposes the children to further mistreatment. Understanding the factors that compel their migration is essential to developing more effective policies and protections that enhance the care for the children who arrive, ensuring their basic rights and needs are met throughout the process.

[1] Amna Nawaz et al., Thousands of Unaccompanied Children Make a Dangerous Trek to the U.S. Southern Border, PBS News (Mar. 13, 2024, 6:40 PM), https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/thousands-of-unaccompanied-children-make-a-dangerous-trek-to-the-u-s-southern-borderhttps://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/thousands-of-unaccompanied-children-make-a-dangerous-trek-to-the-u-s-southern-border.

[2] Ignacio Torres & Quinn Owen, Scared and Hungry, Young Boys Cross the Border Alone, ABC News (Mar. 29, 2021, 5:44 PM), https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/scared-hungry-young-boys-cross-border/story?id=76633536.

[3] NBC News, Thousands of Unaccompanied Minors Attempt to Cross the U.S. – Mexico Border, YouTube (June 21, 2021), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J92L0KlUk28.

[4] 6 U.S.C. § 279(g)(2).

[5] U.S. Customs & Border Prot., Southwest Land Border Encounters, CBP (last modified Sept. 16, 2024), https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/stats/southwest-land-border-encounters.

[6] Id.

[7] Id.

[8] Admin. for Child. and Families, Unaccompanied Children: Facts and Data, ACF (July 5, 2024), https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/about/ucs/facts-and-data

[9] Id.

[10] William A. Kandel, Cong. Rsch. Serv., R43599, Unaccompanied Alien Children: An Overview 32 (Jan. 18, 2023), https://sgp.fas.org/crs/homesec/R43599.pdf.

[11] Id.

[12] Peter J. Meyer, Cong. Rsch. Serv., IF11151, Central American Migration: Root Causes and U.S. Policy, 11 (Nov. 30, 2023), https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11151.

[13] Id.

[14] Id.

[15] Ctr. for Preventive Action,  Instability in the Northern Triangle, Council on Foreign Rels. (last updated Apr. 11, 2024), https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/violent-instability-northern-triangle#:~:text=As%20for%20governance%20in%20the,and%20the%20rule%20of%20law, (noting that 25% of the youth lack education and employment).

[16] Id.

[17] Id.

[18] See Marcos Alemán, El Salvador is Gradually Filling its New Mega Prison with Alleged Gang Members, AP News(Oct. 12, 2023, 5:52 PM), https://apnews.com/article/el-salvador-prison-gangs-bukele-42315f24691e0a3136d005ab7c0bee6a.

[19] Ctr. for Preventive Action, Instability in the Northern Triangle, supra note 15.

[20] Meyer, supra note 12.

[21] Id.

[22] Ctr. for Preventive Action, Instability in the Northern Triangle, supra note 15.

[23] Id.

[24] Will Freeman & Steven Holmes, Why Six Countries Account for Most Migrants at the U.S. – Mexico Border, Council on Foreign Relations (July 9, 2024), https://www.cfr.org/article/why-six-countries-account-most-migrants-us-mexico-border.

[25] Ctr. for Preventive Action, Criminal Violence in Mexico, Council on Foreign Relations (July 24, 2024), https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/criminal-violence-mexico.

[26] Id.

[27] Id.

[28] Council on Foreign Relations, Mexico’s Long War on Drugs: Crime and Cartels, (last updated Aug. 5, 2024), https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/mexicos-long-war-drugs-crime-and-cartels

[29] Id.

[30] U.S. Dep’t of State, 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report: Mexico (2023), https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-trafficking-in-persons-report/mexico/.

[31] Council on Foreign Relations, supra note 28.

[32] Id.

[33] U.S. Dep’t of State, 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Mexico (2023), https://www.state.gov/reports/2023-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/mexico/.

[34] U.S. Dep’t of State, 2023 Trafficking in Persons Report: Mexico, supra note 30.

[35] Janna Ataiants et al., Unaccompanied Children at the United States Border, a Human Rights Crisis that can be Addressed with Policy Change, Nat’l Libr. of Med. (2018), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5805654/.

[36] Nawaz et al., supra note 1.

[37] Unaccompanied Migrant Children, The Nat’l Child Traumatic Stress Network (2015), https://www.nctsn.org/sites/default/files/resources/unaccompanied_migrant_children.pdf.

[38] John Burnett, Coyotes' Boomtown: Picking Up the Migrant Trail on the Way to the U.S.-Mexico Border, NPR (Apr. 8, 2019, 5:01 AM), https://www.npr.org/2019/04/08/710348088/coyotes-boomtown-picking-up-the-migrant-trail-on-the-way-to-the-u-s-mexico-borde.

[39] John Burnett, Who Is Smuggling Immigrant Children Across the Border?, NPR (July 15, 2014, 8:03 AM), https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2014/07/15/331477447/who-is-smuggling-immigrant-children-across-the-border.

[40] See Nawaz et al., supra note 1.

[41] See Burnett, Who Is Smuggling Immigrant Children Across the Border?, supra note 39.

[42] See Amanda NeMoyer et al., Psychological Practice with Unaccompanied Immigrant Minors: Clinical and Legal Considerations, Nat’l Libr. of Med. (Mar. 2019), https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6415685/.

[43] Damià Bonmatí, Migrants Returned to Mexico Describe Horror of Kidnappings, Torture, Rape, NBC News (Sept. 28, 2021), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/migrants-returned-mexico-describe-horror-kidnappings-torture-rape-rcna2300.

[44] Id.

[45] Adriana Beltrán, Children and Families Fleeing Violence in Central America, WOLA, (Feb. 21, 2017), https://www.wola.org/analysis/people-leaving-central-americas-northern-triangle/

[46] Bonmatí, supra note 43.

[47] Pamela Lizette Cruz & Tony Payan, Alone and Vulnerable: Unaccompanied Minors in the United States and Mexico, Baker Inst. for Pub. Pol’y, (Oct. 9, 2018), https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/unaccompanied-minors-us-mexico.

[48] Id.

[49] Id.

[50] Id.

[51] Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008, Pub. L. No. 110-457, § 235, 122 Stat. 5044, 5069.

[52] Do My Rights Matter? The Mistreatment of Unaccompanied Children in CBP Custody, Am. Immigr. Just. (Oct. 2020), https://aijustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Do-My-Rights-Matter-The-Mistreatment-of-Unaccompanied-Children-in-CBP-Custody.pdf

[53] Id.

[54] See Press Release, Admin. for Children & Families, U.S. Dep’t of Health & Human Servs., ORR Influx Care Facilities for Unaccompanied Children Fact Sheet (Sept. 13, 2024), https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/fact-sheet/programs/uc/influx-care-facilities-fact-sheet

[55] Id.

[56] Richard Gonzales, Sexual Assault of Detained Migrant Children Reported in the Thousands Since 2015, NPR (Feb. 26, 2019, 7:40 PM), https://www.npr.org/2019/02/26/698397631/sexual-assault-of-detained-migrant-children-reported-in-the-thousands-since-2015.

[57] See Punishing Trauma: Incident Reporting and Immigrant Children in Government Custody, Nat’l Immigrant Just. Ctr., https://immigrantjustice.org/sites/default/files/uploaded-files/no-content-type/2022-09/Punishing-Trauma-Overhaul-SIRs-Executive-Summary-Sept-2022.pdf.

[58] Press Release, Off. of Pub. Affs., U.S. Dep’t of Just., Justice Department Sues Southwest Key for Sexual Abuse and Harassment of Children in Shelters (July 18, 2024), https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-southwest-key-sexual-abuse-and-harassment-children-shelters.

[59] Id.

[60] Id.

[61] Id.