The surge of thousands of unaccompanied children illegally crossing the border from Mexico is being fueled by misperceptions about U.S. immigration policy rather than growing violence in Central American, according to a leaked EPIC report
Human smugglers - known as coyotes - are exploiting perceived changes to U.S. immigration law after the Obama administration decided in 2012 to practice prosecutorial discretion in cases where individuals were brought into the U.S. illegally as minors.
?These cartels have seen a weakness in the system. They've seen statements coming from the administration that they have used in order to just frankly increase the number of people coming over,? Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla., told reporters on Tuesday.
