Mexican kids in U.S. sent back in droves
The Associated Press
Jan. 6, 2003
MEXICO CITY - In an 18-month period ending in June 2002, Mexico repatriated more than 17,500 children who had illegally migrated to the United States, officials said yesterday.
In a statement, the Foreign Relations Ministry announced that in 2001, Mexican consulates across the United States returned 12,019 young people to their hometowns in Mexico.
That tally included only those youngsters who crossed the U.S. border without their parents or who were separated from their families once they reached U.S. territory, the statement said.
During the first six months of last year, Mexican officials repatriated 5,501 children traveling alone. Statistics for the second half of 2002 are not available.
An aggressive federal program to repatriate children illegally living alone in the United States has seen authorities return more than 86,757 young people to Mexico from 1994 through June, the statement
said.http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/local/1_6_03mex_kids.html
