UNITED STATES. - We have written extensively about this topic from different angles, in many of our articles. We have talked about the reasons why minors, single mothers, and other adults are embarking on long and dangerous journeys from Central America with the hope of arriving at the U.S./ Mexico border.

What has been mostly ignored is precisely where the exodus is originating from and why. Pew Research has compiled information from the Department of Homeland Security in order to paint a clearer picture of where these Central American immigrants are coming from in order to better understand the underlying reasons.

According to a document received by Pew, "many children from Guatemala are arriving from rural areas, for example, possibly looking for better economic prospects in the U.S. Children from El Salvador and Honduras, on the other hand, are coming from extremely violent regions where it is likely that they perceive the risk of traveling unaccompanied to the U.S. as less dangerous than staying in their home countries."

The combination of economic problems and violence could explain the general reason why this mass exodus is ocurring, specifically because children from Honduras and El Salvador are escaping one of the most vileent regions in their countries and even in the world.

According to Pew, "San Pedro Sula in Honduras is the murder capital of the world, with a homicide rate of 187 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2013, as a result of a surge in gang related violence and drug trafficking. the country itself has a homicide rate of 90 for every 100,000 residents in 2012, the highest in the world."

While it is true that many are headed to the U.S. to reunite with family members that are already in the country, or are attempting to seek asylum, this is just one of many reasons why they decide where to go, and not why they are leaving in the first place.

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