Dumped in the reeds: Heartbreaking pictures shows migrant girl, two, and her three-month-old brother in a baby carrier abandoned on Texas banks of Rio Grande
Two young Honduran children were found near the shore of the Rio Grande in Texas on Tuesday after being abandoned there by people smugglers.
A two-year-old girl was discovered with a car seat containing her three-month-old brother, U.S. Customs and Border Protection revealed.
Officers assigned to the Eagle Pass South Station were patrolling the river that serves as the border between the United States and Mexico when they spotted an 'unusual color on the riverbank.'
The agents stopped their boat operation and found the girl sitting on the grass next to the car seat.
Agents said a note was found under the baby's carrier explaining that the pair were siblings, but did not reveal its exact contents.
The children did not require medical attention, officials said.
A two-year-old girl from Honduras and her two-month-old brother were rescued by U.S. Border Patrol agents Tuesday after they were found on the riverbank of the Rio Grande
A U.S. Border Patrol agent tends to the two Honduran children who were abandoned on the riverbank of the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, Texas, on Tuesday
The officers immediately took the children in and transported them to a nearby facility.
Agents searched the area, but could not find any trace of the smugglers who had abandoned the young children.
Chief Patrol Agent Robert N. Garcia posted on Twitter: 'The attention to detail our agents demonstrate while preforming their duties can be the difference between life and death.
'It is heartbreaking and frustrating to know that there are children being abandoned without remorse or concern for their lives and wellbeing.'
Chart shows number of unaccompanied minors stopped at the southern border over the last four years. According to data released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in August, Border Patrol agents had stopped that 113,791 unaccompanied children for crossing the United States-Mexico border since October 1, 2010 - the start of fiscal year 2021
The disturbing finding is just the latest report of unaccompanied minors being abandoned at the border by people smugglers with no apparent regard for the children's safety.
It comes five days after police found a six-year-old boy at a Wal-Mart in Brownsville, Texas.
The Salvadoran child was left behind alone at the store on Thursday and turned over to the Brownsville Border Patrol Station. He provided agents a note with the contact information for his aunt in Houston.
In late August, U.S. Border Patrol agents rescued two Ecuadorian girls who were able to call 911 after they were left stranded in the desert outside Ocotillo, California.
On March 30, two sisters -also from Ecuador - were dumped by smugglers over a 14-foot high border wall in New Mexico. They were later reunited with their parents, who live in the New York area.
A six-year-old boy from El Salvador was found alone at a Wal-Mart in Brownsville, Texas, last Thursday. CBP figures provided in August showed that 113,791 unaccompanied children have been stopped for crossing the United States-Mexico border since October 1, 2001
Ecuadorian siblings (pictured) were rescued by Border Patrol agents in late August after there abandoned in the desert near Ocatillo, California
El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez provides snacks to the two girls from Ecuador who were abandoned by human smugglers and dropped over a 14-foot high border wall in New Mexico on March 30
Despite the efforts by President Joe Biden's administration to open up the asylum border process and keep migrants from remaining in Mexico for immigration court hearings, parents continue to risk the lives of their children and send them alone in droves over the United States-Mexico southwestern border region.
CBP data released in August showed that 113,791 unaccompanied children have been interdicted by border agents since October 1, 2001 - the start of fiscal year 2021.
Figures have increased over the previous three months, with 18,962 unaccompanied minors being smuggled over the border in July.
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