HIDALGO COUNTY, Texas — Border Patrol agents say a group of undocumented immigrants who tried to cross near Hidalgo over the weekend included several children without their parent.
One of them was a 7-month-old baby being cared for by his 13-year-old brother, according to U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Agents.
The teen told agents their mother abandoned them three weeks earlier. He had their Honduran birth certificates to prove they are brothers. Border agents say the boy and his baby brother appeared to be in good health and didn’t require medical treatment.
Earlier this month, a 3-year-old girl was sent across the border without any family members. She was wearing a dirty Minnie Mouse tee shirt with a phone number scribbled on it.
Border agents questioned a woman from Venezuela who appeared to be caring for the child. The woman said she was told by the smugglers who brought them across the border into Texas to take the girl north. She said she agreed because she was worried about the toddler’s safety.
"No child should be put in the hands of smugglers, strangers, or travel alone," Border Patrol Agent Mark Morgan tweeted.
In both cases, the smugglers who rafted the undocumented immigrants across the Rio Grande River were arrested.
It’s not clear what happened to the children after the smugglers who brought them across were arrested. We've reached out to the CBP RGV to try and find out.
