Software Development

Where are migrant kids coming from? Explore the border crisis in this interactive graph

Philly-based data scientist Rosa Torres asked, "Can data stories change our perspectives where other forms of communications have failed?"

559 migrant children have not been reunited with their parents after being separated at the border. (Screenshot)

Just over 200,000 unaccompanied children have been apprehended at the U.S. southern border since 2015. But where are those kids coming from? And what happens to them after they make it into the country?

In an interactive graphic, Data Imprint founder Rosa Torres broke down the available stats from the past three years on migrant children and families by country of origin and the amount of migrant activity throughout the year out of concern for superficial assessments of the complex migrant crisis unfolding at the border.

“I started this dataviz with this question in mind: Can data stories change our perspectives where other forms of communications have failed?” Torres said. “I chose to tell a data story on ‘Children crossing the U.S. border’ to help the public visualize who is reaching our borders and to help answer questions like Why are they crossing the border? Where are they coming from? How many are reaching our borders? What happens to them? Where do they go?”

See the data viz

A now-rescinded child-separation policy from the Trump administration – enacted in May and rescinded in June – led to the separation of some 2,500 migrant children from their families.

According to a court filing obtained by MSNBC correspondent Jacob Soboroff on Friday, the federal government has yet to reunite 559 migrant children with their parents, following an order by U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw.

“Not all of these questions have a clear answer, but I hope data can help us see these issues from different dimensions,” Torres said.

Last month, South Jersey IT company Centerpoint Communications built a prototype for a common database between federal agencies and organizations to help reunite families separated at the border.

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