According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the number of UAC from any country apprehended at the U.S. border climbed from nearly 28,000 in fiscal year 2012 to more than 42,000 in fiscal year 2013, and to more than 73,000 in fiscal year 2014. Prior to fiscal year 2012, most UAC apprehended at the border were Mexican nationals. However, as figure 1 shows, starting in fiscal year 2013, the total number of UAC from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras surpassed the number of UAC from Mexico and, in fiscal year 2014, far surpassed the number of UAC from Mexico. Recent data and research indicate that, while fewer UAC are being apprehended in the United States in 2015, the pace of migration from Central America remains high. According to DHS, as of August 2015, apprehensions at the southwest border are down 46 percent compared with last year—with more than 35,000 UAC apprehended in fiscal year 2015 compared with about 66,000 through the same time period in fiscal year 2014. However, analyses of DHS data indicate that apprehensions in the month of August 2015 increased compared to previous months this year and exceeded by nearly 50 percent August 2014 apprehensions. Moreover, research by two nongovernmental organizations indicates that a greater number of Central Americans this year are being apprehended in Mexico. According to the Migration Policy Institute, Mexico has increased its enforcement capacity and is apprehending a greater number of Central American migrants, including children. Specifically, in its study published in September 2015, the institute projected that Mexico’s apprehensions of children from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras will increase this year by 9,000. In addition, according to research conducted by the Washington Office on Latin America, Mexico has greatly increased its rate of apprehension of Central American migrants. These studies indicate that many Central American children who in the past may have made it to the U.S. border and been counted in U.S. apprehension statistics, have this year been apprehended in Mexico. Children from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras face a host of perils both within their countries and along the migration route to the United States. These countries have among the world’s highest murder rates, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, along with a widespread presence of gangs, high poverty rates, and a number of other persistent problems. Children who migrate can encounter further risks along the journey, including robbery, extortion, abandonment, rape, or murder. A number of U.S. agencies provide assistance to the three countries. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Department of State (State), DHS, the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and the Inter-American Foundation (IAF) have programs providing assistance in areas such as economic development, rule of law, citizen security, law enforcement, education, community development, and others. In fiscal year 2014, USAID, State, DHS, and IAF allocated a combined $44.5 million for El Salvador, $88.1 million for Guatemala, and $78 million for Honduras. In addition, MCC signed a threshold program agreement with Honduras in fiscal year 2013 totaling $15.6 million, a compact agreement with El Salvador in fiscal year 2014 totaling $277 million, and a threshold program agreement with Guatemala in fiscal year 2015 totaling $28 million. Additional information on agency- and program-specific funding is included in our July 2015 report. In September 2014, the governments of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras issued a regional plan in response to the recent migration increase. The plan, referred to as the Plan of the Alliance for Prosperity in the Northern Triangle: A Road Map, outlines four strategic actions that seek to stimulate the productive sector to create economic opportunities, develop opportunities for people, improve public safety and enhance access to the legal system, and strengthen institutions to increase people’s trust in the state. In addition, in March 2015, the administration issued the U.S. Strategy for Engagement in Central America, with the primary objectives of prosperity, governance, and security, and the goals of an economically integrated Central America that is fully democratic; provides economic opportunities for its people; has more accountable, transparent, and effective public institutions; and is a safe environment for its citizens. As we reported in July 2015, according to agency officials a variety of factors likely caused the rapid increase in UAC migration of recent years, including the increased presence of coyotes, perceptions concerning U.S. immigration law, recent improvements in the U.S. economy, the increased use of social media, and the worsening of pervasive problems. Increased presence of smugglers (or coyotes). Agency officials from all three countries that we spoke to said that smugglers, also known as coyotes, had proliferated and grown more influential and sophisticated in recent years. Officials from USAID and State in all three countries noted that coyotes were often well known and trusted in communities. In addition, agency officials we spoke to in all three countries noted that coyotes had instituted new marketing and messaging tactics, such as offering three attempts to migrate to the United States for one fee— known as a “three-for-one” deal. Coyotes had also intentionally spread rumors and misinformation about U.S. immigration policy. For example, agency officials told us that, in some cases, in an effort to drive smuggling business, coyotes led many people to believe children could migrate to the United States and receive permission to stay indefinitely if they arrived by a certain date. Perceptions of U.S. immigration policy. According to agency officials, general perceptions concerning U.S. immigration policy had played a growing role in UAC migration. According to State officials in El Salvador and Guatemala, local media outlets had optimistically discussed comprehensive immigration reform efforts in the United States and sometimes failed to discuss the complexity of immigration reform. In addition, according to USAID officials, Honduran youth and coordinators of community centers who were interviewed as part of a USAID focus group indicated they believed the United States would allow migrant minors, mothers traveling with minors, and pregnant women to stay for a period of time upon arrival in the United States. Improvements in U.S. economy and family reunification. Agency officials also noted that recent improvements in the U.S. economy had fueled increased UAC migration, enabling family reunification in the United States. For example, State and USAID officials in Honduras noted that the improving economy had enabled parents who immigrated to the United States to send money back to their home country to pay coyotes so their children could migrate and reunify the family in the United States. According to officials in El Salvador, as the economy improved there, more Salvadorans have attempted to migrate to the United States to reunify with family. Increased use of social media. The use of social media can encourage migration, according to some agency officials. For example, officials in Guatemala noted that social media outlets enable migrants who arrive in the United States to share messages and pictures with families in their home countries, an act that can serve as a powerful and influential endorsement of the decision to migrate. Additionally, according to a study performed by State contractors in El Salvador, many people advertise immigration services through social media and offer travel services to ensure safe arrival in the United States. Worsening of longstanding pervasive challenges. Violence, poverty, and poor access to education and other services have been pervasive development challenges in all three countries, predating the UAC migration increase. However, according to agency officials we spoke to in all three countries, some of these problems had grown worse in recent years and could have contributed to the rise of UAC migration. For example, in Honduras, agency officials noted that levels and perceptions of violence had grown worse, in part because of the rise in extortions. Worsening security concerns also negatively affect access to education. For example, agency officials in El Salvador noted that many children will not attend school after the seventh grade because traveling to some schools requires crossing gang borders, and that girls in particular face the risk of being attacked or raped en route. In Guatemala, agency officials stated that poor economic and social conditions in the Western Highlands—a remote, mountainous area in the western part of Guatemala, inhabited by over 20 different indigenous groups—had declined even further in recent years. In addition, agency officials noted that deteriorating climate conditions, including several consecutive years of drought and a coffee rust blight that has hurt coffee production and cost jobs in Honduras and Guatemala, exacerbated long-standing economic concerns in many communities. For our July 2015 report, we met with children from all three countries who offered similar insights concerning the causes of migration. For example, children at a USAID outreach center in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, noted the lack of educational and job opportunities in their communities as a reason for migrating. Children from a particularly violent neighborhood told us it was even more difficult for them to obtain a job because potential employers would sometimes choose not to hire them because of where they live. Children at an outreach center in El Salvador also noted that sometimes, even with an education, one cannot find work in El Salvador and that there are more opportunities and chances to succeed in the United States. Children at this same center indicated that the desire to migrate is even stronger for children with parents in the United States. Prior to this hearing, we asked agency officials for their observations on what factors may have led to the overall decline in UAC apprehensions in fiscal year 2015 as well as the increase in UAC apprehensions in August 2015. Several DHS offices offered various perspectives for these changes in UAC apprehension numbers.