U.S. border

Costa Rica’s former President Óscar Arias is correct in his assessment of the cause of the current U.S. “child immigration problem.” The clear takeaway is: If you interfere in the internal affairs of another country you create a responsibility for the outcomes. At least, try not to be shortsighted to the point of repeating past mistakes.

Since October more than 57,000 unaccompanied minors have been apprehended crossing the border, and about three-quarters of them are from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras -- Central American countries where youths are fleeing poverty and gang violence.

Marco saw his hopes and dreams crumble before his eyes, barely scraping a living in his western Guatemalan town as it fell victim to drugs and gangs.

The foreign ministers of three Central American nations – appearing jointly at a Washington conference on immigration policy – today urged the United States to protect the welfare of all children trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border while helping their governments fight the poverty, gangs and drug-fueled violence that forces these unaccompanied minors to flee their countries in the first place.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the presidents and foreign ministers of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala prepare for Friday’s White House roundtable with President Barack Obama, experts here met to discuss how to stem the influx of Central American children that has overwhelmed U.S. border officials, sparking a humanitarian crisis.

The root cause dates to the parents and grandparents of the young people fleeing their countries today — our region's "lost generation," those who were children and teenagers in the 1980s. Back then, two superpowers — the United States and the Soviet Union — chose our region as a place to work out their disputes. They were eager to help Central America transform students into soldiers.

U.S. President Barack Obama will host next week the presidents of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala to discuss how to stem the flow of tens of thousands of immigrant children across the U.S. border.

MCALLEN, Texas – Behind the beige brick facade and the barbed wire of the Border Patrol station here, crowds of Central American women and children are sleeping on concrete floors in 90 degree heat.

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families, 24,668 unaccompanied minors were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexican border in fiscal 2013. Officials expect the annual number will jump to nearly 60,000 by the end of fiscal 2014.