White House Wants Unaccompanied Minor Program Loopholes Closed

Program has become a recruiting pipeline for violent MS-13 gang, say officials

Border Patrol agents process three unaccompanied minors from Honduras (C) while an adult male (L) from Honduras looks on. A man and his son are partially obscured behind them, in Hidalgo County, Texas, on May 26. Benjamin Chasteen/The Epoch Times

WASHINGTON—The vast majority of MS-13 gang members are in the United States illegally. One study of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests made over a 10-year period puts the number at 92 percent.

Many of the gang members are here from El Salvador, Honduras, or Guatemala through the unaccompanied minor program. A disturbing trend shows that unaccompanied minors coming from Central America become the main targets for recruitment into the gang. Almost 70 percent of unaccompanied minors crossing the border are aged between 15 and 17.