--Most are still teenagers: Even though an increasing number of unaccompanied minors are young children, 9 of 10 caught at the border during 2013 were teenagers.
--Some are quite young: During this fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2013-May 31, 2014), 94 cases, or 1 percent, of unaccompanied children taken into custody are under age 1, Pew reports, “and only about 2 percent (785) are 5 or younger.”
--While we take note of the number of unaccompanied children crossing the border, there is also an increase in the number of accompanied children: Indeed, “the number of apprehensions of children who are accompanied by a parent or guardian has increased at a far faster clip, nearly tripling (160 percent increase) in less than a year,” according to Pew. “In the partial fiscal year 2014 data provided, 22,069 accompanied children were apprehended, up from just 8,479 during all of the previous fiscal year.”
--Compared with other Central American countries, a larger share of unaccompanied children from the Honduras is under the age of 12: More than 1 in 4 (27 percent) of the apprehended Honduran children caught at the border in 2014 were under age 12, up from 20 percent the previous year, the report says.
--There is also an increase in the number of children accompanied by a parent from Honduras: “Fiscal year 2014 data shows 12,074 accompanied Honduran children have been apprehended so far,” Pew reports, “a 434 percent increase over the previous year.”
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