[Whitfield:] The Obama administration has revealed a new plan to curb what's becoming a big problem with illegal immigration, children coming across the border. By the numbers, unaccompanied children come from as many as 11 different countries. The U.S. government estimates as many as 60,000 to 80,000 children without their parents will cross the border this year alone. And the U.S. intervention plan includes spending $250 million for Central American governments to help stem the tide of undocumented kids coming to the U.S. illegally. The majority of the children apprehended by the U.S. Border Patrol along the southwest border this month have been concentrated in the Rio Grande Valley sector of Texas. Our Nick Valencia was just there. And, Nick, on the ground, you know, this is a very bad situation.
[Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] Humanitarian crisis, someone's saying.
[Whitfield:] How bad is it?
[Valencia:] Well, some U.S. officials I've spoken to say it's worse than we're even seeing in those images that have been leaked from U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar's office, also other Border Patrol agents have leaked other photos as well. It's worse, they say in these facilities. In fact, when I was there on the border, Fred, I saw a family group from Honduras that had just crossed the Rio Grande Valley. That's me right there next to the Texas Department of Public Safety. And that's the family I'm talking about. They just arrived from Honduras. Two young girls under 4 years old with what is presumably some of their family members. They call this a family group because they're coming with adults. Those two kids there, under the age of 18 years old, it's a humanitarian crisis as some would say. What the Obama administration is doing now is it's pledging this $250 million. Where is that money going to go? It's intended to go to these governments in Guatemala, in Honduras, in El Salvador, to be part of this reintegration process
[Whitfield:] What does that mean?
[Valencia:] They're not really detailed. That's a great question.
[Whitfield:] Yes.
[Valencia:] But it's not really detailed by the White House. What is this reintegration process and how another big question is, how are you going to hold these governments accountable to spend the money on the migrants when they go back?
[Whitfield:] Exactly because it's the problem from what we've heard from a number of these families and the children, if the problem is family members are saying, I'm willing to risk the life of my child
[Valencia:] Right.
[Whitfield:] to go unaccompanied by me
[Valencia:] Hundreds of miles.
[Whitfield:] across the border because the drug crime is just too much to bear here. There are no jobs. There's no future for my child. If that's what families are saying, this $250 million being doled out to any of these countries, are they going to address those things? Will that money be going towards, you know, some kind of crime intervention or helping to, you know, build infrastructure so there are jobs. I mean
[Valencia:] There is $161.5 million set aside for the Central American Regional Security Initiative. And that goes towards addressing governance challenges as well as security challenges. As you mentioned, a big issue is violence in these home countries. Yes, it is a processing issue, yes, there's not enough room to house these thousands of migrants that cross. But it really is the root of the problem in Central America. And that needs to be addressed. Some senior lawmakers saying this money, not enough. Not enough. Not going to solve the problem.
[Whitfield:] Wow. We're going to talk to, in fact, Congressman Cuellar a little bit later on that you were talking about. And keep us posted on this as well.
[Valencia:] Great. You got it, Fred.
[Whitfield:] Appreciate it. So it's been years since one New York woman left her town filled with poverty and violence in Honduras to immigrate to the United States. She hasn't seen her parents for nearly two decades, until now. Here's Rosa Flores taking us on this "American Journey."
[Rosa Flores, Cnn Correspondent:] This neighborhood in Honduras is not only home to both poverty and violence, but to families, as well. And to this mother, who would give anything to see her daughter again. Natalia Lopez Manuelez says she has always supported her children, even when one of them wanted to take on the dangerous and uncertain voyage to the United States in search of opportunity. Nearly 20 years ago, Natalia kissed her daughter, Leslie, goodbye. The 25-year-old left on foot never to return to Honduras. This mom says she's now trapped in the very situation her daughter left behind. Over the years, she has only spoken to her daughter by phone, never seeing her face-to-face. [On Camera] I met this family while I was filing special reports for CNN in Honduras and when I learned about the agony they were facing due to separation, I thought there is something we can do here, and I started looking for her daughter, Leslie. [Voice-over] And found her living in New York. Sharing her mother's grief. Leslie says she used to cry alone, thinking about her family thousands of miles away. She was undocumented and couldn't visit. We took a DVD of my interview with her parents and showed it to Leslie. She was finally able to see her parents for the first time in almost two decades. She couldn't believe her eyes. Her mom showing the many years on her face. [On Camera] When you left they were
[Unidentified Female:] Big difference.
[Flores:] As does the home she grew up in, a shell of what she remembers.
[Unidentified Female:] Home sick.
[Flores:] And also shocked at the poverty and violence plaguing her old neighborhood. What didn't surprise her, her father talking to CNN. "He's never been timid," she says, and while this unconventional reunion brought her some joy, nothing replaces seeing family in person. Her dream now, aside from becoming a U.S. citizen, is to visit her family in Honduras one day. Rosa Flores, CNN, New York.
[Whitfield:] Families separated by thousands of miles across the border, that's just one aspect of this immigration crisis. Next hour, I will actually speak with Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar about all of this, including the children caught in the middle. What's next for them. Still to come, an injury to a top American scorer could impact the U.S.Portugal match Sunday at the World Cup. Lara Baldesarra is in Brazil.
[Lara Baldesarra, Cnn Correspondent:] Pretty big injury for the U.S. but it's not the end of the world. I will have all the details coming up for you in just a moment.