Over the past several years, the number of unaccompanied children from the "northern triangle" of Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) attempting to enter the United States has increased significantly. This mixed migration flow was particularly heavy during the 2014 fiscal year (FY), when the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended nearly 52,000 unaccompanied minors from the region at the southwest border—a 150% increase compared to FY2013 and a more than 1,200% increase compared to FY2011 (see Figure 1 ). U.S. authorities noted similar increases in apprehensions of Central American families and single adults. Although the number of Central Americans reaching the U.S. border has declined since FY2014, U.S. apprehensions of unaccompanied children remain at elevated levels, placing strains on government resources and raising concerns domestically and internationally about the safety and protection of the children. There is little consensus among analysts regarding why the number of Central American minors abandoning their homes in hope of entering the United States has increased so significantly. Nevertheless, most analysts maintain that the problem is complex, involving interactions between so-called push factors , such as high levels of violence and poverty in Central America, and pull factors , such as the desire to join family members in the United States and perceptions about U.S. immigration policies. Many analysts warn that elevated levels of migration from the region are likely to continue until policymakers in the countries of origin and the international community address the poor security and socioeconomic conditions in the northern triangle. Members of Congress have expressed significant concerns about the influx of unaccompanied minors and have taken some steps designed to address the situation. This report focuses on the foreign policy dimensions of increased migration from Central America. It begins by examining U.S. policy in the region, including a brief historical background, the current policy framework, and the U.S. and regional response to the surge in unaccompanied minors. The report then discusses a variety of issues Congress might take into consideration as it continues to formulate policy toward Central America. These issues include the humanitarian implications of the migration situation, the international humanitarian response, the capacity of Central American nations to receive and reintegrate unaccompanied children removed (deported) from the United States, the capacity of Central American nations to address the root causes of the exodus, and the role of Mexico as a transit country. The report concludes with an outlook for U.S. policy. The increased flow of unaccompanied minors from Central America to the United States over the past several years has led some policymakers to reevaluate U.S. relations with the region. As Members of Congress debate potential changes in policy toward Central America, they might consider how U.S. policy has influenced the region in the past, the framework for U.S. engagement, and the steps the U.S. government has taken thus far to address mixed migration flows. Given the geographic proximity of Central America, the United States historically has had close political, economic, and cultural ties with the region. During the Cold War, the U.S. government viewed links between the Soviet Union and leftist and nationalist political movements in Central America as a potential threat to U.S. strategic interests. The United States provided extensive assistance (equivalent to $9.7 billion constant 2013 dollars) to El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras during the 1980s as the Salvadoran and Guatemalan governments fought leftist insurgencies and the Honduran government supported U.S. policy in the region. An estimated 70,000 Salvadorans and 200,000 Guatemalans were killed or "disappeared" during the countries' civil conflicts and truth commissions have determined that government forces were responsible for most of the human rights abuses committed. Many Central Americans fled the region and sought refuge in the United States. The vast majority of Salvadorans and Guatemalans were denied asylum, however, since the U.S. government insisted that its allies in the region were not responsible for human rights violations. During this time period, the United States also established the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI; formally the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act— P.L. 98-67 ) to support political and economic stability in Central America. This unilateral preferential trade arrangement, launched in 1983, provided duty-free access to the U.S. market for many goods from the region. U.S. support for Central America began to wane in the 1990s following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the region's civil conflicts. Peace accords were signed in El Salvador in 1992 and in Guatemala in 1996. Although the United States provided some support to Central American countries to strengthen democratic governance and implement market-oriented economic reforms and provided considerable assistance in the aftermath of natural disasters such as Hurricane Mitch in 1998, aid to the northern triangle countries declined significantly during the 1990s (see Figure 3 ). Following the passage of the Illegal Immigrant Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) of 1996, the United States accelerated deportations of Central Americans. Nearly 46,000 convicts were among those deported to the region between 1998 and 2005; they included members of the Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and 18 th Street Gang (M-18), contributing to the spread of gang violence in Central America. Nevertheless, many Central Americans continued to migrate to the United States, primarily for economic reasons. Over the past decade, the U.S. government has sought to enhance security cooperation with the countries of the northern triangle to address high levels of crime and violence and the region's emergence as a major transit point for illicit narcotics destined for the United States. Although the Department of Defense has provided some assistance, much of this cooperation has taken place under the umbrella of the Central America Regional Security Initiative (CARSI) administered by the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). CARSI provides the seven nations of the Central American isthmus with equipment, training, and technical assistance to support law enforcement operations. CARSI is also designed to strengthen the long-term capacities of Central American governments to address security challenges and the underlying social and political factors that contribute to these challenges. Congress has appropriated nearly $1.5 billion for CARSI since its inception in FY2008. As the State Department and USAID dedicated larger portions of their limited foreign-assistance budgets for the region toward addressing security concerns, they reduced funding for more traditional development sectors, such as governance and economic reform. While most U.S. agencies shifted the focus of their efforts in Central America toward security concerns, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) provided substantial infusions of economic aid to the region. In 2005, the MCC signed a five-year, $205 million compact to improve transportation infrastructure and support rural development in Honduras. Although the MCC Board decided not to renew the compact as a result of the Honduran government's poor performance on corruption, it approved a so-called threshold program of up to $15.6 million in 2013 to support Honduran government efforts to strengthen public financial management and increase the transparency and efficiency of public-private partnerships. In 2006, the MCC signed a five-year, $461 million compact to support development in the northern border region of El Salvador. A second five-year compact, finalized in 2014, is providing an additional $277 million to El Salvador to improve the country's investment climate, human capital, and infrastructure. Although Guatemala has yet to receive a compact, the MCC Board approved a $28 million threshold program for the country in 2014 to support fiscal reform, foster partnerships with the private sector, and improve linkages between the education system and the labor market. Trade and investment relations between the United States and the northern triangle countries are governed by the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR), which was signed in 2004 and entered into force for El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras in 2006. The agreement builds on CBI by making preferential market access reciprocal, comprehensive, and permanent. Between 2005 and 2015, U.S. merchandise trade with the countries of the northern triangle increased by nearly 54%, growing from $16.8 billion to $25.8 billion. U.S. exports to the region have grown by 82%, and U.S. imports from the region have grown by 29%. Analysts had predicted that CAFTA-DR would lead to a relatively larger increase in U.S. exports because a significant portion of imports from the region already entered the United States duty free under CBI. The stock of U.S. direct investment in the northern triangle countries has also increased, climbing from $2.1 billion in 2005 to $4.7 billion in 2014. These trends vary somewhat by country. Honduras, for example, has seen a slight decline in the stock of U.S. direct investment over the past decade. There continue to be strong cultural ties between the United States and Central America. In 2014, the foreign-born populations from El Salvador (1.3 million), Guatemala (916,000), and Honduras (588,000) ranked as the 5 th - , 10 th - , and 16 th -largest groups, respectively, of all foreign-born groups in the United States. According to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) estimates, 55% of Salvadorans, 64% of Guatemalans, and 67% of Hondurans residing in the United States are in the country illegally. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removed about 75,000 undocumented individuals from the northern triangle in FY2015, including 22,000 Salvadorans, 33,000 Guatemalans, and 20,000 Hondurans. Some Central Americans who may otherwise be deported have been allowed to stay in the United States with Temporary Protected Status (TPS).