LUKEVILLE, Ariz. — Two small children who had been abandoned in the desert west of Lukeville, Arizona, were rescued Thursday by an agent with the Tucson Sector Border Patrol.
A group of migrants who were arrested west of the Lukeville Port of Entry told an agent about the children, and the agent found an 18-month-old crying and a 4-month-old lying face down and unresponsive in the Organ Pipe National Monument, KOLD-TV reported.
According to the TV station, the agent resuscitated the infant while waiting for Border Patrol and National Park Service emergency medical technicians to arrive.
“Yesterday smugglers left two young children—an infant and a toddler— in the Sonoran Desert to die,” Tucson Sector Border Patrol Chief John Modlin said in a prepared statement shared to Twitter.
Yesterday smugglers left an infant and a toddler in the Sonoran Desert to die. This is cruelty. And it is gut-wrenching. I commend our agents for their quick response to this dreadful incident and to every incident in which migrant lives are at stake. 1/ pic.twitter.com/TvMBJLJW1f
— John R. Modlin (@USBPChiefTCA) August 26, 2022
“This is not just another example of smugglers exploiting migrants for money. This is cruelty. And it is gut-wrenching. I commend our agents for their quick response to this dreadful incident and to every incident in which migrant lives are at stake,” Modin added.
According to KPNX, the children were transported to an area hospital for treatment and eventually discharged back to Border Patrol custody.
Meanwhile, the Office of Refugee Resettlement has been notified, and expedited placement of the children has been requested, KOLD reported.
Earlier this week, two children died, and a baby was in critical condition after being pulled from the Rio Grande during separate attempts to cross into the United States from Mexico.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the Tucson Sector has experienced a 12% increase in the number of unaccompanied minors being smuggled across the border compared with 2021, and a 234% increase compared with 2020, KPNX reported.
©2022 Cox Media Group
