The number of unaccompanied school-age children from Central America arriving at the United States’ southern border has declined significantly from this time last year, according to a top administrator for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The decline follows a surge in 2014 during which tens of thousands of children sought to enter the United States, taxing the resources of many school systems.
In fiscal 2014, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security referred 57,496 children to the HHS, which cares for children once they are apprehended at the border. In contrast, fewer than 18,000 were referred during the first eight months of fiscal 2015, said Mark Greenberg, the agency’s acting assistant secretary for children and families.
