Migrant ‘Family Unit’ Breakdown: 1.2 Minors Per 1 Adult

The Obama administration is preparing for another potential surge in illegal immigration of Central American unaccompanied minors and family units at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The new influx follows already high unaccompanied minor and “family unit” apprehension levels over the past several years.

As Breitbart News has reported, since FY 2013 nearly 300,000 unaccompanied minors and “family units” have been detained at the border.

The government tally of unaccompanied minors is slightly more straight-forward than the data for “family units.” While the totals of unaccompanied minors ostensibly show the number of immigrants detained at the border who under the age of 18 and without a parent or legal guardian. The “family unit” totals contain data of both children and adults.

The “family unit” totals represent the number of individuals detained within a “family.”

As a Customs and Border Protection spokesman described, “For example, if a family unit consisting of 1 woman and 2 children is apprehended, then the number 3 is added to the table.”

The public CBP data for family unit apprehensions has largely been just that — the total number of individuals detained within a group, without a child/adult distinction. CBP data provided to Breitbart News, however, shows the breakdown of adults and children within those larger tallies.

According to the “unofficial” year-end government data, from FY 2013 – FY 2015 family unit apprehensions averaged about 1.2 children per adult.

In FY 2013, there were 8,564 accompanied children and 6,492 adults detained as family units, in FY 2014, 38,982 children and 29,702 adults were apprehend as family units and in FY 2015, 22,131 children and 17,921 adults were detained as families.

The number of unaccompanied minors and family units apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border has skyrocketed even beyond the already elevated levels of years prior.  During the first two months of FY 2016 — October and November — is more than double the level apprehended in the same timeframe  a year ago.

In addition to expanding the number of facilities to house the migrants, the Department of Homeland Security has started to conduct raids to deport some of those illegal migrants who have been ordered removed or have exhausted their immigration court options but remain in the U.S.