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More than 26,000 unaccompanied child refugees from Central America were arrested at the United States border in the first six months of 2016, UNICEF said Tuesday.
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The United Nations' children's agency also said another 16,000 unaccompanied minors from Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, never made it to the U.S. as they were stopped at the Mexican border, which the U.S. government has paid to step up its immigration enforcement, effectively outsourcing its deportations.
"They seek to get away from brutal gangs that target them or poverty and exclusion that deprive them of education and hope," UNICEF said in a report, adding that many also hoped to be reunited with their families.
Many of these children risk kidnapping, human trafficking, rape and murder in order to enter the U.S. only to be arrested upon arrival, said UNICEF.
According to the report, women and children can spend months in detention, and unaccompanied minors can even spend years detained while their cases are studied.
UNICEF spokesperson Christophe Boulierac said at a press conference that 40 percent of detainees do not have a lawyer and the system does not provide them with one.
The report stated that 40 percent of those who do not have a lawyer are deported, compared to 3 percent of those who do.
Boulierac also said unaccompanied minors are treated differently depending on their nationality, with Mexicans often deported much faster than other nationalities.
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