Smugglers abandoned a four-month-old baby and an 18-month-old toddler in the desert before they were rescued by border patrol.
Chief patrol agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tuscon Sector, John R. Modlin, tweeted “Yesterday smugglers left an infant and a toddler in the Sonoran Desert to die. This is cruelty. And it is gut-wrenching.”
Modlin shared that despite being found unresponsive, the baby was successfully revived.
“The heartlessness of smugglers cannot be underestimated,” he declared.
The 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/
— John R. Modlin (@USBPChiefTCA) August 26, 2022
According to Fox 10 Phoenix, a border agent was notified of the children’s location by a migrant within a group who had been arrested.
The children were discovered west of the Lukeville port of entry on the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.
The children were quickly rushed to a nearby hospital before being returned to Border Patrol custody.
This incident comes in light of the U.S. border crisis, as massive numbers of migrants continue to cross the southern border.
“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.
