Factbox: Obama administration struggles with child migrant crisis

By Julia Edwards and Alex Dobuzinskis WASHINGTON/LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Obama administration is grappling with a surge in child migrants at the southwestern U.S. border, some accompanied by parents and some traveling alone. Seeking to escape poverty and drug and gang violence in Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, tens of thousands of children have attempted to enter the United States illegally in recent months. Here is a look at the scope of the problem and steps the White House is taking to address it: BY THE NUMBERS - More than 52,000 unaccompanied minors from Central America have been caught trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border since October, twice as many as a year earlier. - Without government action, the Obama administration projects more than 150,000 unaccompanied children under the age of 18 could be fleeing their Central American homelands for the United States next year. Read More http://ift.tt/1qLwdsE