Which factor BEST explains the recent increase in the number of undocumented teenage immigrants in the United States from Central American countries?

The factor that best explains the growing number of undocumented adolescent immigrants from Central American countries in the United States is the wave of violence that exists in the countries of the region, especially Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala.

This violence has a double origin: on the one hand, especially in the case of Nicaragua, it is generated by the government itself, which, although it cannot be classified as a dictatorship, it is an autocratic and authoritarian government. Thus, huge social and political conflicts develop in the country, which lead to institutional violence by the state against its own citizens.

On the other hand, the biggest problem in the region is generated by the Maras, mafia-style street gangs that control drug trafficking and, logically, confront each other to try to expand their areas of influence.

These factors mean that the quality of life in Central America has notably decreased, prompting thousands of inhabitants of the region to migrate to the United States, even illegally, in search of a better future.