More than 450 unaccompanied immigrant children have been released to sponsors in Alabama since October 2017, with almost a quarter going to two counties, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

DHS's Office of Refugee Resettlement tracks the number of immigrant children who arrive illegally in the U.S. without a parent or legal guardian. Since October 2017, 452 immigrant children have been placed in Alabama, with 117 of them split almost evenly among two counties: Jefferson and Marshall.

From 2016-2017, 598 unaccompanied minor immigrants were placed in Alabama, down from 870 in 2015 to 2016 and 808 from 2014-2015.

The largest percentage - 45 percent - of unaccompanied immigrant children are from Guatemala, according to DHS, followed by El Salvador (27 percent) and Honduras (23 percent). Less than 3 percent came from Mexico

Zero tolerance policy

The Trump administration has come under fire for its immigration policies - including separating families that cross over the border illegally - as well as its handling of undocumented minors arriving in the U.S.

Unaccompanied minors arriving illegally in the U.S. or separated from their parents are turned over to the ORR, which is responsible for housing and feeding them.

The Trump administration's zero tolerance policy, which includes criminal prosecution of adults crossing the border illegally, has driven more children into DHS housing. That housing is now 95 percent full and the White House is considering opening new temporarily facilities to house the overflow.

The latest DHS information states the data "does not specifically reflect referrals from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's recently enacted 100 percent prosecution policy of illegal immigration cases."

Unaccompanied minors in the U.S.

Undocumented children are held in DHS facilities until sponsors - typically family members - can be located. If a sponsor is found, they must agree to ensure the child is present for all future immigration proceedings, as well as removal if a judge orders them to leave the country.

That has been an issue in the past, however.

"It can take months and sometimes years to adjudicate those claims once they get into the federal immigration court system, and they often fail to appear for immigration proceedings," Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said last month. "In fact, approximately 6,000 unaccompanied children each year fail to appear when they've been summoned. They're released and they don't show up again."

In 2017, the average length of stay in a federal shelter facility was 41 days.

According to DHS, 30 percent of the unaccompanied minors who enter the U.S. illegally are under age 14; 69 percent are 15-17. Seventy-seven percent are male; 23 percent are female.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently said the cost of housing and caring for the children tops $1 billion a year.

Updated June 19 to add country of origin.