Two Ecuadoran children were abandoned this week by smugglers who dropped them over a 14-foot barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border — an incident captured in a video released Wednesday by federal authorities.
After the girls hit the ground on U.S. land, two unidentified men on the other side of the wall fled, leaving the 3-year-old toddler and her 5-year-old sister to fend for themselves.
Authorities said Santa Teresa border agents were able to find the sisters after being directed by a camera operator to the remote location in New Mexico, just west of El Paso, Texas. The girls were alert after the fall but taken to a hospital for evaluation. Reports later said they were unhurt, but officials with the U.S. Border Patrol called the incident appalling.
The case highlights the struggles of the Biden administration, which has been troubled to find housing for the several hundred children of all ages who have been crossing the border every day.
To make matters worse, parents refused entry into the United States have sent their children across the border alone, hoping they eventually will be placed with relatives. As a result, holding facilities are packed, and the administration is scrambling to find more temporary housing options.
Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez in the El Paso sector, which includes parts of Texas and New Mexico, said an agent using a remote camera was able to spot a person straddling the barrier. The video shows the person lowering the children one at a time before letting them drop to the ground below. The children stood up as two people fled on the other side of the border.
“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,” Chavez said in a statement.
Information provided by The Associated Press was used to compile this report.
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