Young migrants from Honduras fleeing drug and gang violence

Honduran immigrant Melvin, 16, spends a day at the Hermanos en el Camino immigrant shelter on August 5, 2013 in Ixtepec, Mexico. He said he planned to ride a freight train north later that night to continue his journey to the U.S. border and eventually to San Francisco to find whatever work he can. Thousands of Central American migrants ride atop the trains, known as 'la bestia', or the beast, during their long and perilous journey north through Mexico. Some of the immigrants are robbed and assaulted by gangs who control the train tops, while others fall asleep and tumble down, losing limbs or perishing under the wheels of the trains. Only a fraction of the immigrants who start the journey in Central America will traverse Mexico completely unscathed - and all this before illegally entering the United States and facing the considerable U.S. border security apparatus designed to track, detain and deport them.

According to Customs and Border officials, nearly 50,000 children have crossed in the past eight months. It's believed that number could reach 90,000 by the end of the year. Experts say gang activity, drug trafficking and increasing violence are all factors in the increase.

We've been looking at the growing numbers of unaccompanied minors crossing the border into the U.S. in recent weeks. Tomorrow, Vice President Joe Biden will be in Guatemala to meet with leaders of several Central American nations about this issue.

According to Customs and Border officials, nearly 50,000 children have crossed in the past eight months. It's believed that number could reach 90,000 by the end of the year. Experts say gang activity, drug trafficking and increasing violence are all factors in the increase.

For more, we're joined by Suyapa Portillo, professor of Chicano/Latino Transnational Studies at Pitzer College. Part of her research focuses on working conditions near factories — known as maquilas — in Honduras, where the highest number of young migrants are coming from.

What Should The U.S. Do With Apprehended Child Migrants?

When unaccompanied minors crossing the border from Honduras, or elsewhere, are apprehended, officials face a difficult challenge: what to do with them. Southern California Public Radio reporter Leslie Berestein Rojas joins Take Two to talk about this increasingly difficult issue.