New federal data shows the majority of unaccompanied migrant children in the United States have been released to relatives living in states that have sizable Central American immigrant populations. 

According to The New York Times, 30,340 children from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala have been released to parents and relatives in the U.S. this year. 

The data, which was released by the Office of Refugee Resettlement, shows more children were released in Texas than in any other state, with sponsors in Texas receiving 4,280 children. New York had the next highest number of children released at 3,347, followed by Florida at 3,181 and California at 3,150. Maryland and Virginia have also recieved more than 2,200 children. 

The figures do not include children who are still living in shelters, which has incited anger from governmental officials across the country who are calling the situation a humanitarian crisis. However, many children who were placed in shelters for a period of time were later released to family members. 

Officials said that more than half of all children placed in shelters were later released to at least one parent living in the states. Eighty-five percent of children have also been sent to  live with a close relative. 

Sponsors of the children are vetted by social workers, and must undergo criminal background checks. They also must ensure that the child appears for all of their court hearings. The sponsors do not have to be legal permanent residents or citizens. 

If children cannot find qualified sponsors, they are placed in foster care or in long-term shelters. Around 10 percent of unaccompanied child migrants are placed in either shelters or foster care. 

More than 57,000 unaccompanied migrant children have been arrested since October by Border Patrol agents. Most of the children are crossing the border through the Rio Grande Valley in Texas. Around 53,000 of those children were released to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, and more than 47,000 of them are being released to relatives or qualified sponsors. 

Los Angeles, Washington D.C., Houston and Miami are the cities with the largest numbers of immigrants from Central American countries, according to the Migration Policy Institute. The largest number of immigrants from El Salvador and Guatemala are in Los Angeles, and Miami and New York have the largest number of Honduran immigrants. 

According to federal procedures, children must be placed in the least restrictive environment available, with parents as the first choice for guardians. If there are no sponsors, the minors have to remain in shelters until they can return to their home countries, turn 18 or receive legal status. 

The federal government has opened shelters with around 3,000 beds at military bases in California, Texas and Oklahoma, and they are continuing to look for more spaces to house the immigrants. 

The government has been criticized for not releasing more information about the children's whereabouts, with the governor of Iowa deeming it "outlandish" that the state was not notified that more than 120 unaccompanied migrants children were placed with sponsors in Iowa. 

Other state leaders, including the Gov. John Kitzhaber of Oregon and Attorney General Kamala D. Harris of California, said that they will do everything in their power to help the displaced children.