The issue of immigration remains a sore thumb to any administration leading the U.S. And the Biden administration is no different.
As unaccompanied minors flood to the U.S.-Mexico border, officials, lawmakers, advocates and politicians struggle to find answers.
But, who are these kids? Why are they coming alone?
NBC Latino News reports that many come in search of parents who migrated months or even years ahead of them.
There are currently almost 16,000 minors in the custody of U.S. authorities, 4,878 in Border Patrol facilities and 10,800 more in the care of the Department of Health and Human Services, according to official data collected by NBC News.
In countless interviews, with NBC reporters Caleb Olvera and Edgar Muñoz, the kids say repeatedly, that they simply miss their parents.
One child, Justin, 10, tells the outlet that he made the trip alone from Honduras. He has a piece of paper with a his father’s phone number, and believes that maybe he lives on the East Coast.
When asked what he’ll do when or if he sees his father he says, "Give him a hug, give him a kiss."
Keiner, 11, has not seen his mother, who lives in Florida, since he was 4 years old.
"My mother told me she wanted to see me," he says.
Keiner’s uncle, José David, 17, traveled with him.
“I can withstand more, I'm bigger, but I brought medicine and a bottle of water for him; he had a fever three times along the way,” José David says.
One teen girl, Michelle, 17, says she too is coming to the U.S. to find her father, and because her country of Honduras has become unlivable.
"There is a lot of crime. I want a future for myself,” she said
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