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Take Two with A Martinez
Take Two

Young Central American migrants flee to US, settle for Mexico

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A Salvadorian family waits at the Greyhound bus station for their trip to Houston on July 25, 2014 in McAllen, Texas. They said they had spent 6 days at a U.S. Border Patrol detention center before being released. Federal agencies have been overwhelmed by tens of thousands of immigrant families and unaccompanied minors from Central America crossing illegally into the United States. Many are being processed and released within days, with a requirement to enter immigration court proceedings at a later date. Texas' Rio Grande Valley has become the epicenter of the latest immigrant crisis, as more Central Americans have crossed illegally from Mexico into that sector than any other stretch of America's 1,933 mile border with Mexico.
John Moore/Getty Images
A Salvadorian family waits at the Greyhound bus station for their trip to Houston on July 25, 2014 in McAllen, Texas. They said they had spent 6 days at a U.S. Border Patrol detention center before being released. Federal agencies have been overwhelmed by tens of thousands of immigrant families and unaccompanied minors from Central America crossing illegally into the United States. Many are being processed and released within days, with a requirement to enter immigration court proceedings at a later date. Texas' Rio Grande Valley has become the epicenter of the latest immigrant crisis, as more Central Americans have crossed illegally from Mexico into that sector than any other stretch of America's 1,933 mile border with Mexico.

More than 400,000 people were apprehended at the southern border of the US during this past fiscal year. Most of them were fleeing Central America.

More than 400,000 people were apprehended at the southern border of the US during this past fiscal year...  most of them were fleeing Central America.

Because of the greater risks trying to get into the US, many of these migrants are opting to settle in Mexico instead. 

Asylum applications in that country have nearly tripled over the past three years.

LA Times reporter Kate Linthicum has been exploring how that trend is affecting Mexico. She spoke with Take Two's Alex Cohen from Mexico City.

To hear the full conversation, click the blue player above

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