Border Patrol rescues 4-year-old girl left alone by human traffickers as surge continues unabated
A young child was found dead in the Rio Grande earlier this month
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Border Patrol agents in the Del Rio Sector in Texas rescued a small child who they say had been left on a riverbank by human traffickers.
"Another 4 y/o girl (same age as the one who recently drowned) was found on the riverbank after a smuggler carried her across & left her there (no parents to be found)," Chief Border Patrol Agent Jason D. Owens tweeted Tuesday." The child is now safe thanks to our agents."
TEXAS, USA - SEPTEMBER 19: Migrants are seen at the Rio Grande near the Del Rio-Acuna Port of Entry in Del Rio, Texas. (International Bridge, photo by Charlie C. Peebles/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The girl's identity has not been released by officials.
The retrieval of the young girl marks the second time this month that a migrant child was found alone on the border. A four-year-old girl was dropped in the Rio Grande by her mother on March 4 and her body was found days later by Marine Units, according to CBS Austin.
Border Patrol agent (Getty Images)
SUSPECTED MEXICO CARTEL MEMBER AIMS AK-47 AT TEXAS DPS HELICOPTER PATROLLING NEAR BORDER
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Approximately 220,000 illegal immigrants have evaded Border Patrol since October, a Department of Homeland Security official told Fox News last month, coming during months that are typically slower for border crossings.
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Former DHS officials, including those who served in leadership during prior administrations, told Fox News in January that the continuing migrant crisis at the border should be the top priority if shutting down trafficking is a goal of the Biden administration.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"When you don't take immigration enforcement on the border seriously, and you don't take immigration enforcement seriously in the interior, human trafficking is going to expand and a lot of people are going to get away with it because there isn’t a focus on it," former acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) director Thomas Homan told Fox News.
"When you increase the number of people being smuggled, the increase in trafficking goes along with that, so if they're really, really serious not just about addressing and reacting to trafficking, if they're really serious about trying to prevent it, they’d secure our borders," former acting Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Mark Morgan added.
Fox News' Adam Shaw contributed to this report