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Border Patrol agents in the Del Rio sector of Texas rescued a young child who they say had been abandoned on a riverbank by traffickers.
“Another 4-year-old girl (same age as recently drowned) was found on the river bank after a smuggler carried her across and left her there (no parents found)” Chief Border Patrol Agent Jason D. Owens tweeted Tuesday.” The child is safe now thanks to our agents.”
TEXAS, USA – SEPTEMBER 19: Migrants are seen on the Rio Grande near the Del Rio-Acuna port of entry in Del Rio, Texas. (International Bridge, photo by Charlie C. Peebles/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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The girl’s identity was not released by officials.
The rescue of the young girl marks the second time this month that a migrant child has been found alone at the border. A four-year-old girl was dropped off by her mother in the Rio Grande on March 4 and her body was found by naval forces days later, according to CBS Austin.
Border Patrol Officer (Getty Images)
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About 220,000 illegal immigrants have evaded border protection since October, a Department of Homeland Security official told Fox News last month, in months typically slower for border crossings.
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Former DHS officials, including those who have held senior positions during previous administrations, told Fox News in January that if ending human trafficking is a goal of the Biden administration, the ongoing migrant crisis at the border should be a top priority.
“If you don’t take border immigration enforcement seriously and you don’t take inland immigration enforcement seriously, human trafficking will expand and many people will get away with it because there isn’t a focus on it,” said Thomas Homan, former director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), to Fox News.
“When you increase the number of people smuggled, the increase in human trafficking goes with it. So if you’re really, really serious about not just addressing and responding to human trafficking, if you’re really serious about trying to prevent it, you would secure our borders,” added Mark Morgan, the former Acting Commissioner of Customs and Borders ( CBP).
Fox News’ Adam Shaw contributed to this report