Border Patrol agents rescued two abandoned migrant siblings—a toddler and a 3-month-old infant—along the Rio Grande River Tuesday, Fox News reported.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said agents discovered the children after they noticed an unusual color in the grass near the Eagle Pass, finding a 2-year-old girl sitting next to her 3-month-old brother laying in his car seat, according to Fox News. The agents discovered a note that revealed their ages and that they are Honduran natives.
CBP said the two children were transferred to a nearby station for processing where they currently remain and did not require any medical attention, the outlet reported. After Border Patrol agents conducted a search, CBP said that no leads were found in relation to the children’s abandonment, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Border Patrol Apprehensions of Migrant Children Skyrocketed In February)
Children have often been smuggled into the U.S. in the hopes that Border Patrol will discover and process them in the country and typically be released to sponsors in the country, the outlet reported. Footage released by Border Patrol showed a 5-year-old girl stranded along the border in June. Another video showed a 5-year-old boy screaming “don’t go!” after being abandoned at the border.
NEW: Border Patrol agents in Eagle Pass, TX found a 3-month-old boy and 2-year-old girl abandoned on the banks of the Rio Grande while they were patrolling the river yesterday. A note on the infant carrier said they are siblings from Honduras. Children safe.
Photo: CBP @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/uYO9EuGqhj— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) September 15, 2021
Data shows that 51% of all unaccompanied migrant children were apprehended at the Rio Grande, according to the Congressional Research Service. Border authorities encountered 18,847 unaccompanied children in August, down slightly in July when over 19,000 were discovered by border patrol, Fox News reported.
In March, the number of unaccompanied minors at the U.S.-Mexico Border tripled within a two-week period, with a recorded 3,250 children being detained. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki pushed back on questions regarding the surge in unaccompanied minors at the border during a March press conference.
The surge of minors led to CBP detaining at least 800 unaccompanied minors for over 10 days in late March, despite the legal limit being 72 hours. As of Aug. 1, more than 2,200 children were in custody and remained an average of 60 hours at the detention facilities, doubling the number of those detained in July, according to Reuters.