New Study Shows Teens Are Starting To Illegally Enter U.S.

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- A disturbing trend among young illegal immigrants--many of them are crossing American borders alone.

Gigi Barnett explains federal agents say a record number of teens are taking dangerous steps to reach the U.S.

Five months ago, 17, 15 and 12-year-old brothers crossed the Rio Grande into U.S. territory, on a path to reach their mother in Hyattsville.

Border patrol agents say they're part of a growing number of children taking the dangerous trek without their parents. The hardest thing about the journey:

"Crossing the river, he says," said an interpreter.

The boys told their story on CBS This Morning and didn't want their names released.

Since January, more than 47,000 teens have come to the U.S. illegally-- and alone.

The brothers are from San Pedro Sula in Honduras, where the murder rate is higher than any other city worldwide. Gangs had already shot their older brother; the siblings thought they were next.

"They already told me that they were going to kill me," he said.

Border patrol agents found the boys and took them to a center where they called their mother, who had been living in the U.S. for the last five years. After three months in a Chicago shelter, they were reunited with her. The brothers say their journey was fraught with fear that still lingers.

"There are people who have come here to die in the desert. You come with fear," they said.

Border patrol agents believe at least 40,000 more young illegal immigrants will cross the border this year.

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