The number of child migrants who crossed the treacherous Darien Gap between Colombia and Panama has spiked, the United Nations Children's Fund said Friday. UNICEF said that in May 2021, 500 children were detected crossing on the jungle trail. But in May 2022, that number had risen to 2,000.

The fund estimates that about 5,000 children have crossed the Darien Gap so far this year.

Plagued by wild animals, swollen rivers, rough terrain and thieves, the gap claims many lives each year. The overall number of migrants crossing the land bridge between South and North America doubled.

The overall number of migrants crossing the land bridge between South and North America doubled, with about 32,000 crossing so far this year, compared to 16,000 in 2021.

A lot of people moved in 2020 as the pandemic accelerated change for a lot of Americans.

North America Van Lines takes a hard look at the previous year and reviews where people moved. In 2020, the moving company examined migration patterns based on nearly 70,000 moves.

"Where are people moving from? NYC, Chicago, and the other four cities were in California,” says Kevin Murphy, vice president and general manager for North American Van Lines.

“Something that struck me was Idaho was our No. 1 inbound state. Seven people are moving to Idaho for every three that move out of 10 moves. You’re seeing a large number there,” Murphy added.

One thing learned in 2020 was a lot of us can work from anywhere, which means we can live anywhere and still keep our obligations.

“It's really changed where people have to live or where they want to live,” Murphy said. “I know a number of people, some that we work with are changing locations and their companies don’t even know they’re in a position where they’d rather ask for forgiveness than permission.”

Allied Van Lines reviews migration patterns as well. In their network of more than 300 independent movers, they noticed trends that have been highlighted in years past still held true for 2020. Things like Florida and Texas are still popular moving destinations.

“We’ve seen that Texas has been a No. 1 state for a number of years, but it’s a very business-friendly environment, a lot of pharmaceutical and health care companies, so top talent is a desired resource there. They have low state tax and no income tax," says Lesli Bertoli, vice president and general manager of Allied.

She also says California is still seeing an exodus.

“California is a very, taxes are high. Other states have more friendly business practices, rules and regulations,” Bertoli said.

Illinois is also seeing an exodus.

“Interestingly enough, the state of Illinois was a net outbound and that’s increased over the past three or four years; 68% of that Illinois volume, more people leaving than going into that state,” Bertoli said.

“If you think of the things that were really important to you as a person in an urban environment, it’s dining, it’s museums, going to an LA Rams game, see the Dodgers win the World Series. All of those things that are the benefits of living in an urban area were torn away during the pandemic,” Murphy said.

While there was a lot of bad in 2020, it did accelerate and perhaps force people to make the change they've always wanted to make, even if it means uprooting.

Vice President Kamala Harris will travel to the U.S.-Mexico border on Friday as part of the Biden administration's effort to limit migration from Central American countries into the U.S.

The White House confirmed that Harris will travel to El Paso, Texas Friday with Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas.

During the White House press briefing Wednesday, press secretary Jen Psaki said the trip was part of "the coordinated effort between her office, her work, the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Health and Human Services" to address the causes of increased migration.

Psaki later said that Harris hadn't visited earlier because she "didn't want to visit a time when it would be disruptive to efforts on the ground."

Biden tapped Harris earlier this year to lead his administration's effort to contain the large increase of migrants who have been encountered at the border by U.S. officials.

As part of that effort, Harris traveled to Guatemala and Mexico earlier this month to meet with foreign leaders about the root causes of the migration. She did not visit the border during that trip, prompting criticism from Republicans.

Amid her trip, during an interview with NBC's Lester Holt, Harris compared visiting the border with visiting Europe.

"At some point, you know, we are going to the border," Harris said in the interview.

"We've been to the border. So this whole, this whole, this whole thing about the border. We've been to the border. We've been to the border," Harri said.

"You haven't been to the border," Holt responded.

"I, and I haven't been to Europe. And I mean, I don't — I don't understand the point that you're making," Harris said "I'm not discounting the importance of the border."

This story is breaking and will be updated.