INSTITUTE INDEX: The refugee crisis unfolding on the U.S. border

Number of unaccompanied children who came to the United States in 2012: fewer than 20,000

Number in fiscal year 2014: about 60,000

Estimated number in fiscal year 2015: 80,000 to 100,000

Of the unaccompanied children apprehended at the southwest U.S. border between Oct. 1, 2013 and June 15 of this year, percent who came from the Central American countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras: 75

Rank of violence in their home countries among the top reasons the children cite for fleeing: 1

Rank of Guatemala among the world's nations with the highest murder rates: 5

Rank of El Salvador: 4

Rank of Honduras: 1

Murder rate in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, the world's most homicidal city: 193 per 100,000

By comparison, the murder rate in New York City: 5.1

Decade in which Central America was wracked by civil wars in which the U.S. government was deeply involved, spending billions in military aid to fight left-wing governments and guerrillas and leading to heavily armed societies: 1980s

Year in which the Honduran military overthrew the elected government in a coup, leading to political turmoil and to criminal gangs becoming the de facto authority in some places: 2009

Of the two most dangerous gangs operating in Central America, number that originated in the United States among those fleeing the region's civil wars: 2

Percent by which the number of Central Americans living in the United States increased between 1980 and 2000, with the immigrants including both victims and perpetrators of violence: 471

Number of Central American gang members deported from the U.S. to their home countries between 2000 and 2004: as many as 20,000

Amount that one of those gangs, MS-13, now charges for smuggling immigrants to the U.S.: $5,000 to $8,000

Years in which the U.S. signed treaties agreeing not to return people to countries where they face persecution from a government or a group the government is unable or unwilling to control based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group: 1952 and 1967

Percent of unaccompanied children fleeing from Guatemala that the United Nations refugee agency believes merit international protection: 28

From Honduras: 57

From El Salvador: 72

Date on which President Obama issued a memorandum deeming the influx of children along the border "an urgent humanitarian situation" under the Homeland Security Act, requiring coordination of federal agencies: 6/2/2014

Amount the Obama administration requested from Congress on July 8 to address the situation, a request opposed by leading congressional Republicans: $3.7 billion

(Click on figure to go to source.)