Title: Why More Families Are Crossing the US-Mexico Border
Headings: 4 reasons the number of families crossing the US-Mexico border illegally is soaring, and how Trump may have made the problem worse
4 reasons the number of families crossing the US-Mexico border illegally is soaring, and how Trump may have made the problem worse
A group of Central American migrants climbing the border fence between Mexico and the United States, near El Chaparral border crossing, in Tijuana, Mexico, on November 25.
People are fleeing poverty and violence in Central America
Central American migrants en route to the US starting their day departing Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico, on October 21.
It used to be single men trying to cross the border. Now it's families.
Honduran migrant women and children walking away from the US border wall after failing to cross over it to San Diego from Playas in Tijuana on December 12.
The Trump administration's failed 'zero tolerance' policy probably increased the number of families trying to enter the US
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday before the House Homeland Security Committee.
America's labyrinth of asylum laws make it hard to deport migrants — especially if they're children
Immigrant children outside the Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children, a former Job Corps site that was housing them, on June 20 in Homestead, Florida.
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Content: In 2008, 5,047 migrants sought to claim asylum at the border. In 2018, that number was 92,959. The government can deport migrants who are ultimately denied asylum. But for many, that process lasts years, and the Trump administration has frequently complained that migrants fail to show up for their court hearings, even though Justice Department data indicates that 60% to 75% of nondetained migrants attend their hearings. The Trump administration has argued that migrant families are flooding the immigration system with bogus asylum claims, knowing their cases don't pass legal muster. But experts have cautioned against dismissing migrants' claims as fraudulent — just because a migrant's fears don't meet the Trump administration's limited definition of persecution doesn't mean they don't truly fear for their lives back home, according to Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a policy analyst at the American Immigration Council. Immigrant children outside the Homestead Temporary Shelter for Unaccompanied Children, a former Job Corps site that was housing them, on June 20 in Homestead, Florida. Associated Press/Brynn Anderson
Read more: Thousands of migrant children were reportedly sexually abused in US government custody
"The administration believes that most Central Americans file frivolous asylum applications. The evidence doesn't support that," Reichlin-Melnick told INSIDER. "