The 10 months of the 2015 fiscal year saw the rate of unaccompanied undocumented immigrant children drop by 51 percent compared to 2014. Through Mexico and Central America, most unaccompanied children have come from Guatemala.

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), an agency within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Guatemala has surpassed Honduras for the most unaccompanied immigrant children encountered by CBP agents.

During the 2015 fiscal year, which started on Oct. 1, 2014, CBP encountered 10,756 unaccompanied children from Guatemala, based on data until July 31. In comparison to the 2014 fiscal year, 17,057 Guatemalan children were apprehended by border patrol. In 2014, however, Honduras attributed to more unaccompanied migrant children, accounting for 18,244 children. For the current 2015 fiscal year, the rate of Honduran children migrating north fell significantly to 3,838 apprehensions. Of the four countries CBP significantly monitors, Honduras now fell from first to fourth place in unaccompanied children traffic.

Maintaining its spot from 2015's data, Mexico is currently in second place, with 9,146 unaccompanied Mexican children entering the U.S. El Salvador placed third with 6,669 apprehensions. Comparing El Salvador's 2014 figures, another significant drop was reported, from 16,404 last year.

From the southwest U.S. border, CBP apprehended 30,862 unaccompanied immigrant children -- minors 17 years and younger -- between October 2014 and July 2015. Within the same time period of the 2014 fiscal year, 62,977 unaccompanied children were apprehended. Between 2014 and 2015's 10 months, the apprehension rate fell by 51 percent.

Most of the 2015 apprehensions have occurred in the Rio Grande Sector in Texas. Although 18,240 children were apprehended in Rio Grande, the figure represents a 61-percent decline compared to 2014's 46,295 apprehensions.

Many of CBP's sectors have encountered double-digit apprehension declines, including outside of Texas, such as Del Rio, El Centro, Laredo and Tucson. A few sectors have seen apprehension increases, notably in Yuma, which encountered a 144-percent spike, from 312 apprehensions to 760 apprehensions by July 31.

Despite some apprehension increases, CBP noted the levels are still at "historic lows."

According to the University of Texas San Antonio and the University of New Hampshire, the number of immigrants coming from Mexico peaked in 2003, and the migration figures have since fallen by more than half.

Between 2008 and 2012, 819,000 people migrated from Mexico into the U.S., which is a 57-percent drop from 1.9 million between 2003 and 2007. The aforementioned figures are from the U.S. Census Bureau, which did not distinguish between legal and illegal immigration. Rogelio Saenz, dean of the College of Public Policy at UTSA and the study's lead author, said the 2007 recession was an impacting result for declining migration levels. Saenz said the recession led to fewer construction jobs between 2007 and 2009, which coincided with Mexico's economy growing.

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