Processing protocols differ

The number of Central American children caught crossing the border illegally last year surpassed the number from Mexico: 21,000 from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, compared to about 17,000 from Mexico.

Under U.S. law, unaccompanied Mexican children can be returned to their homeland immediately, but children from other countries must first be taken into U.S. custody. By law, Customs and Border Protection can hold them for only 72 hours, after which they must be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services, which finds beds for them in temporary shelters.

Los Angeles Times