Tens of thousands of immigrants from Central America, primarily families and unaccompanied minors, arrived at the border between the US and Mexico two years ago. President Barack Obama’s administration labeled the influx a ‘humanitarian crisis’ and Customs and Border Protection data shows that more than 130,000 undocumented immigrants were apprehended.
The influx quickly overwhelmed processing centers, shelters and US Border Patrol stations. The Department of Health and Human Services was forced to step in to manage the care for the thousands of unaccompanied immigrant minors involved. The US government took several steps to try to prevent a repeat of the situation. The 2016 statistics for border immigrant apprehension and processing, though, seem to show that numbers might reach the highest level yet by the end of the year.
One of the most controversial factors surrounding the 2014 border crisis was the reason behind influx. Many blamed poor economic conditions and gang violence in countries such as El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Others pointed to President Barack Obama’s immigration policies as an incentive to undocumented immigrants.
Immigrants not seen as a national security threat were released and told to come back for immigration hearings. These could be up to five years away given the massive backlog in the nation’s immigration courts. Violence has also increased in Central America in the last few years. The result is a mixture of incentives for immigrants to flee their troubled nations and come to the US.