Special to WorldTribune.com

Bill Gertz, Washington Free Beacon

Human smuggling groups in Central America and disinformation about American entry policies are the main drivers behind the current crisis involving more than 50,000 illegal immigrant children that sought entry into the United States, according to U.S. officials.

According to Customs and Border Protection, about 52,000 children were apprehended as of mid June entering the country through the Mexican border. Three quarters of the child immigrants come from El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Officials familiar with intelligence briefings on the immigration crisis said gangs in El Salvador, in particular, have forced many parents there to send their children to the United States to seek a better life—based on disinformation regarding U.S. immigration policies.

Honduras is a major source of immigrant children and has faced a breakdown of social order over the last two decades. Analysts say that organized crime groups in the cities remain strong and authorities who attempt to disrupt their activities are often killed. Government corruption in Honduras is said to be endemic. …

In Central America, the main criminal human trafficking groups, including drug cartels, are making large sums of money from the current child immigrant influx, the officials said. …

Officials also said that contrary to widespread U.S. news media reports and statements by pro-immigration advocates, crime and violence in Central America and specifically Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, is not the major cause of the influx of illegal children. Violence in Central America, while prevalent in the region, has not changed significantly in the past few years.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said July 24 that …. smugglers have recognized a “market-sensitive phenomenon” that is being exploited by traffickers who tell potential immigrant parents that if a child is declared “unaccompanied,” the Border Patrol is required to turn them over to the Department of Health and Human Services within 72 hours. …

Few efforts have been taken by U.S. law enforcement agencies to disrupt the trafficking networks here.

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  Disinformation, lack of U.S. enforcement blamed for child immigrant crisis, LIFE, trafficking cartels, U.S.-Mexico border, WorldTribune.com