It was stated that agency rules were violated by deporting thousands of undocumented immigrant children between the years 2009 and 2014, in a federal audit that was recently released.

Around 93 per cent of children who were under the age of 14 were sent back without recording how it was ensured that the  children would be safe once they returned to their home countries.

Detention centers have been finding it increasingly difficult to cope with the large influx of unaccompanied children; these children come in from across the Mexico border and are basically from countries like Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.

Only last year the President of the United States stated that 47,000 unaccompanied children crossed the country’s borders, leading to what he called an “urgent humanitarian situation”.

A lawyer said, “Agencies just do not have the training, the understanding of humanitarian protection, to make the assessment of these children who come in from Mexico before sending them back to their home countries.”

Children under 14 from most other countries go before a judge to have their safety verified, but children from Mexico and Canada are exempt from this rule; instead, they are asked a set of questions by a border officer or agent.