	Background

After several years of increases, the number of unaccompanied alien children (UAC) apprehended at the Southwest border by the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS's) Customs and Border Protection (CBP) peaked at 68,541 in FY2014. Unaccompanied alien children are defined in statute as children who: lack lawful immigration status in the United States; are under the age of 18; and are without a parent or legal guardian in the United States or without a parent or legal guardian in the United States who is available to provide care and physical custody. Less frequently, they are apprehended in the interior of the country and determined to be juveniles and unaccompanied. In FY2015, apprehensions numbered 39,970, a 42% drop from FY2014 apprehensions. At the close of FY2016 they stood at 59,692, roughly 20,000 more than in FY2015, and 9,000 less than the peak of FY2014. During the first two months of FY2017 (October and November, 2016), USBP apprehended 14,128 unaccompanied alien children. As a basis for comparison, apprehensions in the first two months of FY2015 and FY2016 numbered 5,143 and 10,588, respectively
Nationals of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Mexico account for the majority of unaccompanied alien children apprehended at the Mexico-U.S. border ( Figure 1 ). In FY2009, Mexican UAC accounted for 82% of 19,668 UAC apprehensions, while the other three Central American countries accounted for 17%. By September 30, 2014, those proportions had almost reversed, with Mexican UAC comprising 23% of the 68,541 UAC apprehensions and UAC from the three Central American countries comprising 75%. Current Policy

Two laws and a settlement most directly affect U.S. policy for the treatment and administrative processing of UAC: the Flores Settlement Agreement of 1997; the Homeland Security Act of 2002; and the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008. 107-296 ) divided responsibilities for the processing and treatment of UAC between the newly created Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS's) Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). 110-457 ). DHS's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) physically transports UAC from CBP to ORR custody. The Border Patrol apprehends the majority of UAC at or near the border. In addition, ICE represents the government in removal procedures before EOIR. The Administration developed a working group to coordinate the efforts of the various agencies involved in responding to the issue, temporarily opened additional shelters and holding facilities to accommodate the large number of UAC apprehended at the border, initiated programs to address root causes of child migration in Central America, and requested funding from Congress to deal with the crisis. On July 8, 2014, the Administration requested a $3.7 billion supplemental appropriation, almost all of which was directly related to addressing the UAC surge, including $433 million for CBP, $1.1 billion for ICE, $1.8 billion for HHS, $64 million for the Department of Justice (DOJ), and $300 million for the Department of State (DOS). In addition, P.L. In March 2015, the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2015 ( P.L. 114-4 ) provided $3.4 billion to ICE for detection, enforcement, and removal operations, including $23.7 million for the transport of unaccompanied children for CBP. In its FY2016 budget, the Obama Administration requested contingency funding as well as base funding for several agencies in the event of another surge of unaccompanied children. Congress, in turn, has passed two continuing resolutions (CRs) to fund ORR for FY2017. However, this CR also contains a special provision authorizing HHS to transfer additional funds into the Refugee and Entrant Assistance account to support the UAC program under certain circumstances. Specifically, the CR authorizes HHS to transfer $300 million to fund ORR programs dedicated to unaccompanied children as of February 1, 2017. After March 1, 2017, if the UAC caseload for FY2017 exceeds by 40% or more the UAC caseload for the comparable period in FY2016, the CR would appropriate an additional $200 million in new funding. Going Forward

In response to the UAC surge in the spring and summer of 2014, the Administration announced initiatives to unify efforts among federal agencies with UAC responsibilities and to address the situation with programs geared toward unaccompanied children from several Central American countries. Additionally, Congress increased funding for the HHS program responsible for the care of unaccompanied children, and permitted the Secretary of DHS to transfer funds from within a specific CBP and ICE account for the care and transportation of unaccompanied children, among other actions taken. Since FY2014, the Administration has continued to request additional funding for programs geared toward unaccompanied children, and Congress has appropriated for some but not all such requests.
In FY2014, the number of unaccompanied alien children (UAC, unaccompanied children) that were apprehended at the Southwest border while attempting to enter the United States without authorization reached a peak, straining the system put in place over the past decade to handle such cases. Prior to FY2014, UAC apprehensions were steadily increasing. For example, in FY2011, the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) apprehended 16,067 unaccompanied children at the Southwest border, whereas in FY2014 more than 68,500 unaccompanied children were apprehended. In FY2015, UAC apprehensions declined 42% to 39,970. At the close of FY2016 they increased to 59,692, roughly 20,000 more than in FY2015, and 9,000 less than the peak of FY2014. During the first two months of FY2017 (October and November, 2016), USBP apprehended 14,128 unaccompanied children. Apprehensions in the first two months of FY2015 and FY2016 were 5,143 and 10,588, respectively.
UAC are defined in statute as children who lack lawful immigration status in the United States, who are under the age of 18, and who either are without a parent or legal guardian in the United States or without a parent or legal guardian in the United States who is available to provide care and physical custody. Two statutes and a legal settlement directly affect U.S. policy for the treatment and administrative processing of UAC: the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-457); the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-296); and the Flores Settlement Agreement of 1997.
Agencies in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) share responsibility for the processing, treatment, and placement of UAC. DHS's Customs and Border Protection (CBP) apprehends and detains unaccompanied children arrested at the border. DHS's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) handles custody transfer and repatriation responsibilities, apprehends UAC in the interior of the country, and represents the government in removal proceedings. HHS's Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) coordinates and implements the care and placement of unaccompanied children in appropriate custody.
Foreign nationals from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico accounted for almost all UAC cases in recent years, especially in FY2014. In FY2009, Mexico accounted for 82% of the 19,688 UAC apprehensions at the Southwest border, while the other three Central American countries accounted for 17%. In FY2014, the proportions had almost reversed, with Mexican nationals comprising 23% of UAC apprehensions and the three Central American countries comprising 77%. In FY2016, Mexican nationals made up 20% of all UAC apprehensions.
To address the crisis at its peak in 2014, the Obama Administration developed a working group to coordinate the efforts of federal agencies involved. It also opened additional shelters and holding facilities to accommodate the large number of UAC apprehended at the border. In June 2014, the Administration announced plans to provide funding to the affected Central American countries for a variety of programs and security-related initiatives to mitigate the flow of unaccompanied migrant children. In July 2014, the Administration requested, and Congress debated but did not approve, $3.7 billion in FY2014 supplemental appropriations to address the crisis.
For FY2015, Congress appropriated nearly $1.6 billion for the Refugee and Entrant Assistance Programs in ORR, most of which was directed toward the UAC program (P.L. 113-235). For DHS agencies, Congress appropriated $3.4 billion for detection, enforcement, and removal operations, including for the transport of unaccompanied children for CBP. The Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, FY2015 (P.L. 114-4) also allowed the Secretary of Homeland Security to reprogram funds within CBP and ICE and transfer such funds into the two agencies' "Salaries and Expenses" accounts for the care and transportation of unaccompanied children. The act also allowed for several DHS grants awarded to states along the Southwest border to be used by recipients for costs or reimbursement of costs related to providing humanitarian relief to unaccompanied children. Congress continued to provide base funding at comparable levels for FY2016, but did not appropriate funds for contingency funding that was requested by the Administration to address potential surges in UAC flows.
Congress has passed two continuing resolutions to fund ORR for FY2017 (P.L. 114-223 and P.L. 114-254), both of which maintain funding at levels and conditions comparable to FY2016. For both resolutions, Congress has granted HHS the authority to transfer funds from other HHS budget accounts to address higher than anticipated caseloads. The second CR also contains a special "anomaly" provision authorizing HHS to transfer $300 million to fund ORR programs dedicated to unaccompanied children as of February 1, 2017. After March 1, 2017, if the UAC caseload for FY2017 exceeds by 40% the UAC caseload for the comparable FY2016 period, the CR will appropriate an additional $200 million in new funding.