The United Nations arm that focuses on children says since early March, the United States has sent back at least 1,000 migrant children who came to the border alone. Now the coronavirus is making life more dangerous for them back in Mexico and Central America.
The United Nations Children’s Fund, or UNICEF, tallied the number using data from government social welfare agencies in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
UNICEF has seen violence against those sent back because locals fear they could spread COVID-19, said Rhonda Fleischer, program specialist for migration.
“We’ve seen buses be stopped in their tracks. We’ve seen shelters being threatened,” she said.
UNICEF also counted nearly 500 unaccompanied migrant kids that Mexico sent back south since early March.
