'This is cruelty': Border Patrol rescues infant and toddler who had been abandoned in the desert



A four-month-old baby and an 18-month-old toddler were rescued after being abandoned in the desert by smugglers, according to John R. Modlin, chief patrol agent of the U.S. Border Patrol's Tuscon Sector.

"Yesterday smugglers left an infant and a toddler in the Sonoran Desert to die. This is cruelty. And it is gut-wrenching," Modlin tweeted.

He noted that while the baby was unresponsive, she was sucesfully revived. "The heartlessness of smugglers cannot be underestimated," he declared.

\u201cThe children were 4 months and 18 months old. Agents found the infant was unresponsive; thankfully, we were able to revive her and avert tragedy. The heartlessness of smugglers cannot be underestimated. 2/\u201d
— John R. Modlin (@John R. Modlin) 1661558010

Fox 10 Phoenix reported that according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, an agent was notified by an arrested migrant group that the youths were west of the Lukeville port of entry on the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. The Associated Press reported that a migrant within a group of individuals who had been arrested told an agent about the kids' whereabouts.

Both outlets noted that the baby and the toddler were taken to a hospital and then returned to Border Patrol custody.

The U.S. continues to see massive numbers of migrants pouring across its southern border, a problem that persists month after month.

"So far this year, Tucson Sector has seen a 12% increase in Unaccompanied Children being smuggled across the border over fiscal year 2021 and a 234% increase over fiscal year 2020," CBP noted, according to Fox 10 Phoenix.

The Pentagon has rebuffed Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's requests for the D.C. National Guard to be deployed in order to help the city cope with an influx of migrants — the Republican governors of Texas and Arizona have bused migrants to the nation's capital city, though the trips are undertaken voluntarily.

On Monday, Bowser tweeted, "we will continue fighting for DC statehood so that, in the future, when the Mayor of DC says that we need the support of the DC National Guard, she has the ability to deploy the Guard."

\u201cAnd, of course, we will continue fighting for DC statehood so that, in the future, when the Mayor of DC says that we need the support of the DC National Guard, she has the ability to deploy the Guard.\u201d
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@Mayor Muriel Bowser) 1661209074

Heartbreaking video  shows abandoned 10-year-old migrant boy found sobbing in Texas desert, seeking help



The U.S. Border Patrol has released a heartbreaking video taken by an agent who was approached by an abandoned 10-year-old migrant boy last week in a Texas desert near the U.S.-Mexico border.

The child is seen sobbing and asking for help, telling the off-duty agent who was on his way home, "They can rob me, kidnap me, I'm scared."

What are the details?

The video is taken from the perspective of the agent who is seen driving down the road when he sees the boy walking toward him. The agent parks and exits his vehicle, and the boy asks him twice in Spanish, "Can you help me?"

"What happened?" the agent asks, according to translation provided by CNN.

"It's that I was walking with a group and they left me behind, and I don't know where they're at," the boy cries.

The agent then asks, "You don't know where you're at? They left you behind alone?"

And the boy replies, "Of course they left me."

"They left you behind by yourself?" the agent asks again, "You're not traveling with your mom or dad or anybody?"

The child, still sobbing, says, "Nobody. I was with a group to turn myself in with you, and they left me behind and I came to look for help."

"They left you behind and told you to seek help?" the agent asked.

"No," said the boy, "I came looking because I didn't know where to go, and they can also kidnap me."

Video shows sobbing boy apparently abandoned at US border | New York Post www.youtube.com

According to Univision, the footage was first released on social media, and the border agent did take the unidentified child into his vehicle and to safety. The outlet reported that the boy "survived throughout the night in an area of the desert where rattlesnakes and wild animals abound."

Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Chief Brian Hastings also shared the video with CNN "to underscore the concern over the danger associated with the increase in unaccompanied children" crossing into the U.S.

According to Hastings, "migrant families are 'self-separating' in Mexico, sending children alone to cross into the United States after first having been expelled," the outlet reported.

Anything else?

The abandoned boy was reportedly found April 1, just one day after the Border Patrol released footage of smugglers dropping 3-year-old and 5-year-old sisters from a 14-foot border wall and abandoning them. All three children were taken into U.S. Customs and Border Protection custody for care.