The Office of Refugee Resettlement reveals that over 128,000 unaccompanied, undocumented immigrant minors have been released into the US by the Obama administration in less than three years. A major influx of Central American families and unaccompanied minors took place on the southwestern border of the US during President Barack Obama’s second term. Many were later released and allowed to stay in the country while awaiting immigration hearings.
Special protections and treatment are given to undocumented immigrant minors. They are transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services’ ORR once apprehended by immigration officials, who care for them until placements with ‘sponsor’ relatives in the US, who may also be undocumented immigrants.
128,299 unaccompanied immigrant minors were placed in various states from the beginning of the 2014 fiscal year, through to August this year. 53,515 were placed in the 2014 fiscal year, 27,840 in the 2015 fiscal year and 46,944 placed in the first 11 months of the 2016 fiscal year. In 2015, the northern immigration of unaccompanied immigrant minors to the US broke records, with the apprehension of over 68,540 at the border between the US and Mexico by Border Patrol.
The numbers fell in the 2015 fiscal year with the apprehension of 39,970 unaccompanied immigrant minors. The immigration levels of the current fiscal year are similar to those of 2014. Immigration critics have complained that the release of unaccompanied immigrant minors provides further incentive for undocumented immigrants to come to the US.