El Salvador concerned over spike in child migration to U.S.

*Reports from the border say a surge has already begun. There have been twice as many unaccompanied child crossings on the U.S.-Mexico border in October and November than there were one year ago. VL

By Marcos Aleman, Associated Press

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — El Salvador’s foreign minister expressed concern Wednesday over a recent spike in the number of unaccompanied minors crossing into the U.S. through Mexico.

Hugo Martinez warned that if the root causes of migration don’t change, there could be a repeat of the 2014 crisis when tens of thousands of children and families streamed over the border.

“Here we have a warning sign that if we do not do anything to change the structural causes of that migration, no matter what we do we will always be at risk of that happening again,” Martinez said.

Many Central American migrants who try to reach the United States say they are fleeing rampant violence, widespread poverty and lack of economic opportunity.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection says 10,588 unaccompanied minors crossed in October and November, up from 5,129 during the same two months of 2014.

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