AP Exclusive: Immigrant kids sent to adults lacking status

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The vast majority of immigrant children who arrive alone at the U.S. border are placed by the government with adults who are in the country illegally, federal data reviewed by The Associated Press show.

In response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the Department of Health and Human Services provided data showing that 80 percent of the 71,000 mostly Central American children placed between February 2014 and September 2015 were sent to sponsors who were not here legally.

Another 6 percent were placed with adults who had temporary protected status, a U.S. government program that has let some Central American citizens stay and work in the country legally for more than a decade.

Once apprehended by border agents, the children were placed in the care of Health and Human Services in line with U.S. law until caseworkers could screen and select suitable sponsors to care for them.

"Since the president refuses to enforce our immigration laws, unlawful immigrants in the United States consistently pay criminal organizations along the border thousands of dollars to smuggle their family members into the United States," he said in a statement.

The office has collected information about sponsors' immigration status since at least 2005, the Department of Health and Human Services said in a statement.