Leslie Vélez

Girls stand in a dorm at the shelter for underage immigrants and repatriated minors in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Why so many undocumented kids continue to cross the border from Mexico into the US without their parents

Global Politics

Gang violence is one reason why so many unaccompanied minors say they’re fleeing their home countries and crossing the Mexican border into the US. But Leslie Vélez of the UNHCR says when we think of those gangs, we shouldn’t envision something as tame as the Bloods and Crips.Gang violence is one reason why so many unaccompanied minors say they’re fleeing their home countries and crossing the Mexican border into the US. But Leslie Vélez of the UNHCR says when we think of those gangs, we shouldn’t envision something as tame as the Bloods and Crips.