Texas raises alarm over rising number of unaccompanied children at the border

First, there was the video of a two-year-old girl who crossed the border alone, clutching a piece of paper with a phone number written on it. The video, captured at the end of last month, shocked many. Days later, a new video surfaced showing a coyote — a human trafficker — carrying a four-year-old girl across the river. The child arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border alone, hoping to reunite with her mother, who was already in the United States. These images, now circulating widely in the media and on social platforms, align with alarming data recently released by Texas authorities. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety (TxDPS), more than 100 unaccompanied minors crossed the border within a single week, seeking a better life.

“I want the American people to see the impacts of this current border situation that we’ve been in for the last three-plus years and how it impacts unaccompanied children coming across that border,” said Lt. Chris Olivarez, spokesperson for TxDPS, who shared the footage of the two-year-old on social media on November 24. The video shows the young girl holding a yellow post-it note with a name and phone number scribbled on it. The child, originally from El Salvador, was part of a group of over 200 migrants encountered by authorities in Eagle Pass, Texas. Among them were 60 unaccompanied children — the highest number Texas officials have seen in a single day.

After being found by U.S. authorities, the girl was examined for signs of abuse and handed over to Border Patrol, though her ultimate destination remains uncertain, Olivarez reported. “This is a stark example of the precarious journey these children make from their home country & how criminal organizations traffic these children across the southern border and further into the interior,” he said in his message on X.

A few days later, a five-year-old girl from Honduras became the center of media attention. Captured by a security camera, she was seen being carried across the border by a coyote. In a later video, a U.S. officer questions the child, showing her a photo of a suspected smuggler. The girl nods in recognition. She and her mother were stopped by the officer during a routine traffic check. The mother, who had traveled from North Carolina to meet her daughter, admitted to paying a coyote $8,000 to smuggle the child across the border. “They crossed her. But I don’t know the people,” the mother said. “They find them on the internet, and you never see their face. They just tell you where to go, and they do it.” Both mother and daughter were taken into Border Patrol custody, while the car’s driver was arrested.

Abandoned to strangers, and often exposed to exploitation, sexual abuse, and trafficking, many children are sent by relatives who see these risks as less severe than those they face in their home countries. For years, violence, gang wars, and corruption in Central America’s Northern Triangle have forced families to flee in search of safety in the United States. Some migration experts predict that irregular border crossings will spike before January 20, when the Republican president-elect is set to begin his second term

Unaccompanied minors who cross the border are intercepted by border agents and transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), a division of the Department of Health and Human Services. The number of minors handled by the ORR has doubled over the past decade. In fiscal year 2023, however, the figure dropped to 118,938 from 122,731 in 2021. Among these children, 76% were over the age of 14, and 61% were boys. The majority originated from Central America, specifically Guatemala (42%), Honduras (28%), and El Salvador (9%), with another 8% coming from Mexico.

After being taken into custody, unaccompanied children are transferred to a sponsor — usually a relative — living in the United States, who then assumes responsibility for their care. Those without family connections remain in one of 289 ORR-funded facilities and programs spread across 29 states. As of November 1, 2023, the ORR was caring for 6,148 unaccompanied minors, with children staying an average of 34 days.

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Border Patrol finds unaccompanied minors

The law grants minors the opportunity to seek asylum in the United States, but they must attend court hearings as scheduled. Failure to appear can lead to deportation. Many minors skip their hearings, either out of fear of facing authorities or because it is also common for them to not receive an appointment if they have not put down a correct address. An August report from the Department of Homeland Security revealed that the whereabouts of 32,000 minors placed with sponsor families are currently unknown. The report cautions that the true figure could be significantly higher, as approximately 290,000 minors have yet to be assigned a court date.

Despite the increase in minor crossings reported by Texas authorities, overall illegal entries have declined this year, largely due to President Joe Biden’s stricter asylum policies. In June, Biden announced that the border would be closed whenever crossings exceeded an average of 2,500 people per day over a seven-day period. In September, the threshold was tightened further to an average of 1,500 daily apprehensions sustained over 28 consecutive days.

According to a preliminary tally from Reuters, the Border Patrol detained approximately 47,000 migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border illegally in November. This represents a decrease from the 57,000 apprehensions reported in October and marks the lowest monthly total since July 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic and Trump’s first presidency.

Trump has pledged to sign executive orders targeting immigration on day one of his second term. His proposed measures include closing the border and deporting millions of undocumented individuals. Texas has emerged as a staunch supporter of his policies, even offering land to build detention centers.

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