Kirk Demands Background Checks On Illegal Immigrant Children

CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk is demanding criminal background checks on the unaccompanied children that have crossed the U.S. border with Mexico.

According to Kirk, 429 unaccompanied minors are now living in Chicago.

Kirk says he has sent letters to the U.S. ambassadors in to Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador asking whether or not their embassies have performed criminal background checks. He says the federal government is obligated to ensure the immigrants "pose no threat."

More than 57,000 unaccompanied children have arrived in the United States since October. Tens of thousands more have arrived traveling as families, mostly mothers with their children.

Many are trying to reunite with family members and escape violence in their countries. They also report hearing that once in the U.S. they would be allowed to stay.

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