<p> Unaccompanied children arrive at the U.S. border in seek of refugee from the gang activity, abuse and/or poverty from their country of origin. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the values, intentions, objectives and effects of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 with connection to unaccompanied children. There will be an analysis of how the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and other related policies have affected the care, processing, treatment and apprehension of unaccompanied children.</p><p>