Illegal Immigrant Program Creating Proxy Foster Care System, Says Official

Uaccompanied minors who just crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico into the United States in Hidalgo County, Texas, on May 26, 2017. Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times

WASHINGTON—More than 10,000 minor children who crossed the southwest border illegally, without a parent or guardian, are currently in the custody of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The vast majority (more than 90 percent) hail from the Central American countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Most are aged between 15 and 17.