A/HRC/33/53 41. In the United States, Customs and Border Protection officers and Border Patrol agents encounter and identify unaccompanied children. After carrying out the necessary administrative steps, they either transfer the child to an institution or, if permitted under the limited circumstances provided by law, arrange for the child’s voluntary return. While they are assigned accommodation, migrant children should not be in the custody of Customs and Border Protection for more than 72 hours. However, they are in the custody of the Border Patrol for extended periods of time, in temporary locations and under conditions that affect their development and emotional health.22 42. In 2015, the number of migrant arrests in the United States declined but the number of arrests and deportations from Mexico to Central America increased dramatically. This is due in some degree to pressure exerted by the United States on Mexico.23 Despite the decrease in arrests in the United States, repatriation practices are still common. In 2014, 14,352 Mexican children were repatriated by the United States. The corresponding figure for the period from January to July 2015 was 6,772.24 43. In Mexico, immigration authorities detain unaccompanied migrant children from Central America who are detected at points of entry and by patrols along railways and roads. According to the Migration Act, the National Institute of Migration shall remove the children and accommodate them in the facilities of the National System for Integral Family Development. Contrary to the amendment to article 29 of the Migration Act, however, children are detained for long and uncertain periods after being apprehended by the immigration authorities.25 The National Human Rights Commission of Mexico has found that of 35 migrant holding centres only 11 have areas for families and more than 50 per cent lack specific spaces for the accommodation of children and adolescents. Moreover, the focus of migration policy in Mexico is on the detention and return of irregular migrants, including unaccompanied children. From January 2014 to June 2015, 14,864 unaccompanied migrant children were returned to their countries of origin.26 44. Other sources reveal that more than 85 per cent of unaccompanied migrant children from Central America in Mexico end up being deported. Mexico does not comply with the 2011 reforms made in the Migration Act, including the requirement to consider the best interests of the child before repatriating migrants.27 45. The massive number of child returnees and the lack of preparation to reintegrate them is a severe issue in Central America. Of the children arrested by immigration authorities in the United States in the first half of 2014, most came from Honduras (13,282), Guatemala (11,479), Mexico (11,577), El Salvador (9,850) and other countries (829).28 For instance, from 2012 to July 2014, El Salvador reported that 5,411 children and adolescent migrants had been returned, of whom 96 per cent had come from Mexico; 34.7 per cent were girls and young women while 65.3 per cent were boys and young men.29 In 2015, 3,091 unaccompanied child migrants were returned to Honduras, 7,545 to El Salvador and 9,613 to Guatemala.30 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Information provided by the Asociación de Consultores y Asesores Internacionales. WorldVision Latin America and the Caribbean Regional Office. Mexico, Ministry of the Interior. Information provided by the Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd, Mexico. Mexico, Ministry of the Interior. Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Matías. See www.oas.org/en/iachr/media_center/PReleases/2014/067.asp. El Salvador, General Directorate of Immigration. Information provided by the ministries of foreign affairs of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. 9