Md., Va. Among States Where Thousands of Immigrant Children Have Been Placed

Immigration policy has been widely discussed in the U.S. lately, as refugees flood into the country attempting to escape violence in Mexico and Central America.

Federal law requires that the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) feed, shelter, and provide medical care for unaccompanied children until it is able to release them to safe settings with sponsors while they await immigration proceedings.

Over the summer, the federal government estimated that 90,000 children, primarily from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, could make the journey to the U.S. border by themselves during the fall, and that as many as 145,000 of them could arrive in 2015.

Casa de Maryland spokesman George Escobar told WNEW in September that the D.C. area has received more kids per capita than anywhere else in the country.

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