Aug 27, 2022 - Politics & Policy

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

TuAnh Dam

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

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