Border Patrol Video Shows Human Traffickers Drop Children from 14-Foot Wall
Migrant smugglers seen dropping 3 and 5-year-old girls over barrier onto floor
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A video released by U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) agents shows human traffickers dropping young children over a 14-foot barrier onto the floor and abandoning them.
USBP released the disturbing footage Wednesday showing smugglers dropping a 3-year-old toddler and her 5-year-old sister from the top of the border wall.
They left the little girls exposed in the desert as they fled back into Mexico.
El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez published the clip on Twitter.
"Smugglers, under cover of night, scaled a 14 ft. border barrier and cruelly dropped 2 young children in the middle of the New Mexico desert," Chavez captioned the video.
"The girls, ages 3 & 5, were left miles from the nearest residence."
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"Thank you STN Agents for rescuing these children!" Chavez added.
WATCH:
Smugglers, under cover of night, scaled a 14 ft. border barrier and cruelly dropped 2 young children in the middle of the New Mexico desert. The girls, ages 3 & 5, were left miles from the nearest residence. Thank you STN Agents for rescuing these children! @CBP @CBPWestTexas pic.twitter.com/U91y2g8Lk1
— Gloria I. Chavez (@USBPChiefEPT) March 31, 2021
In the video, a suspect can be seen hoisting the smaller child over the wall and lowering her down before letting go.
The toddler lays still on the ground for a few moments after her fall, before bringing herself to her feet as her 5-year-old sister lands next to her.
The individual on the wall then tosses an object on the ground next to the tikes, who appear to be staring upward from where they were dropped as the two suspects can be seen running back through trails on the Mexican side of the border.
In a statement following the video, Chavez said:
"I'm appalled by the way these smugglers viciously dropped innocent children form a 14-foot border barrier last night.
"If not for the vigilance of our Agents using mobile technology, these two tender-aged siblings would have been exposed to the harsh elements of desert environment for hours.
"We are currently working with our law enforcement partners in Mexico and attempting to identify these ruthless human smugglers so as to hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law."
Fox News reported that the number of unaccompanied children arriving at the U.S. southern border "has been rising for weeks," as the Biden administration struggles to "deal with the influx."
According to the Associated Press, more than 17,000 migrant children were in U.S. custody as of Monday.
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The news of the two abandoned little girls comes just a day after the Texas Department of Public Safety reported that a 6-month-old baby girl was thrown out of a raft by smugglers while crossing the Rio Grande River earlier this month.
As Neon Nettle reported, Border Patrol agents and the Texas Rangers were able to save the infant and her mother, whose leg had been broken by smugglers while in Mexico.
