Border Patrol agents rescued an infant and a toddler Thursday who were left alone in the Sonoran Desert, one of them face down and unresponsive when agents found them.
A group of 17 unaccompanied migrant children who were arrested crossing the border west of the Lukeville Port of Entry in Organ Pipe Cactus Monument told an Ajo Border Patrol agent that two young children were left alone west of their location, according to Customs and Border Protection.
The agent quickly found a 4-month-old baby face down and unresponsive and an 18-month-old toddler crying nearby.
The agent began first aid and was able to revive the infant. Emergency Medical Technicians from both the Border Patrol and the National Park Service took the children to an ambulance, and they were taken to the Abrazo West Hospital in Goodyear.
The children were eventually discharged into Border Patrol custody, and they were later transferred to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which takes over the care and social services for unaccompanied children while they await immigration proceedings.
βYesterday smugglers left two young children β an infant and a toddler β in the Sonoran Desert to die,β said Tucson Sector Border Patrol Chief John Modlin in a statement. βThis 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.β
So far this year, Tucson Sector agents have apprehended 16,258 unaccompanied children, a 12% increase over fiscal year 2021, and a 234% increase over fiscal year 2020.
Nationwide, 16% of unaccompanied children crossing the border were under 12 years old in fiscal year 2021, according to data from the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The majority of unaccompanied minors are from Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, at 92% combined.
Many migrants who are from these countries will get sent directly back to Mexico under Title 42, a public health policy put in place because of COVID-19, but unaccompanied minors do not get immediately expelled but rather placed with the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
As well, the Arizona border is one of the most deadly places where migrants cross into the country.
There have been 126 sets of human remains found in the desert in areas where migrants cross the border this year as of the end of July, according to Humane Borders, which partners with the Pima County medical examiner to raise awareness about migrant deaths. Last year, there were 225 sets of human remains recovered.
Since 1990, the remains of migrants have been found in increasingly remote areas. Today, they are found much farther from roads, cities and towns than they were in the 1990s or 2000s, according to an analysis by the Arizona Daily Star.
More than 3,600 undocumented migrants have died within the Pima County medical examinerβs jurisdiction since 1990, according to Humane Borders. Of the remains recovered over the last three decades, 111 were of children.
