Crime, violence and poverty in Central America drove child exodus to US over the last 2 years, GAO says

Crime, violence and poor economic conditions were the prime drivers that forced thousands of children from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to flee unaccompanied to the United States in 2013 and 2014, congressional investigators said in a new report released Feb. 27.

The Obama administration and other analysts have long said that these were top causes of the migration. In this report, the Government Accountability Office queried U.S. officials from the State and Homeland Security departments and the U.S. Agency for International Development stationed in those countries about the causes of the rapid increase in unaccompanied minors crossing the U.S. southern border. 

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