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Aug 27, 2022 - Politics & Policy

U.S. border patrol finds baby, toddler abandoned by smugglers in desert

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Photo by Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images

A 4-month-old baby and an 18-month-old toddler were found abandoned by smugglers in an Arizona desert on Friday, a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent said.

The big picture: Hundreds of migrants have died at the southern border over the last few years, with 557 deaths recorded by the U.S. Border Patrol in the 2021 fiscal year.

  • Earlier this year, 53 migrants died inside a tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas in one of the deadliest border incidents involving migrants in modern history, per AP.
  • Two men were later indicted on charges that include conspiracy to transport and the transportation of illegal migrants resulting in death.

What they're saying: "This is cruelty. And it is gut-wrenching," John Madlin, the Chief Patrol Agent of the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson Sector, said in a tweet.

  • Modlin said that agents found the infant unresponsive in the Sonoran Desert, but were "able to revive her and avert tragedy."
  • "The heartlessness of smugglers cannot be underestimated," he added.
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