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Why the migrant crisis is happening now: The crisis that's shocking the conscience of many Americans begins with Central American children and families crossing the southern border in unprecedented numbers. axios.com/why-the-migran… 
The big picture: They're running from horrors and poverty at home toward a broken immigration system in the U.S. There's no single reason, but droughts, political instability, a booming U.S. economy, technological advancements and asylum backlogs all play a role.
Immigration experts and lawyers talk about "push and pull factors" — what drives migrants from their home countries and what attracts them to places such as the U.S.
*The "push" factors:*
• Violence: El Salvador and Honduras maintained the two highest homicide rates in the world in 2016.
• Poverty: Populations have boomed, but jobs are scarce.
• Coffee: A coffee rust hit Central America in the early 2010s, causing jobs to disappear.
• Violence: El Salvador and Honduras maintained the two highest homicide rates in the world in 2016.
• Poverty: Populations have boomed, but jobs are scarce.
• Coffee: A coffee rust hit Central America in the early 2010s, causing jobs to disappear.
• Drought and starvation: Severe drought devastated crops last year in areas of Central American nations where families commonly live almost exclusively off the food they grow.
• Political unrest: Government corruption and protests have also encouraged people to leave.
• Political unrest: Government corruption and protests have also encouraged people to leave.
*The "pull" factors:*
• Economy: The U.S. economy is booming and has been for the last couple of years.
• Safer, faster journey: Caravans have fundamentally changed the way migrants travel to the border.
• Economy: The U.S. economy is booming and has been for the last couple of years.
• Safer, faster journey: Caravans have fundamentally changed the way migrants travel to the border.
• The asylum system: Court decisions prevent migrant families and kids from being held in federal detention for longer than 20 days, which has led to many families quickly being released into the U.S.
Trump's actions: The Trump administration has blocked or reduced legal means of coming to the U.S. by limiting the number of migrants who can come through ports of entry. These actions encourage families and kids to cross the border illegally to apply for asylum.
Because of Trump’s threats, people feel they have to head for the U.S. now. “When you say things like ‘we’re going to build a wall,’ ‘we’re going to send the military to the border,’ that’s just a starting gun,” one immigration expert tells Axios.
