Wednesday 21 September 2022 10:29 PM Unaccompanied brother intercepted by CBP with contact details of relatives ... trends now
A heartbreaking photo shows two unaccompanied brothers aged just two and six intercepted by border agents after they traveled from Guatemala to Texas.
The siblings, who have not been identified, had contact details of US-based relatives scrawled on their t-shirts.
Border patrol agents found the children Tuesday morning near La Grulla, Texas with a group of more than a dozen other Guatemalan migrants, including six more children stranded without legal guardians.
The two boys had the information of a relative in the United States written on their white shirts, which border patrol agents must rely on to get the children to safety.
It is unclear if the youngsters are en route to those relatives, and if agents are able to contact their loved ones.
Their plight starkly exposes the ongoing crisis at the southern border, which has seen record numbers of people intercepted while crossing illegally - and conservatives blaming President Biden's policies for encouraging them to attempt the often dangerous trip.
A statement from border patrol read: 'Many of the unaccompanied children encountered by Border Patrol are very young and unable to provide names or phone numbers of family members.'
'To locate a (child’s) next of kin, agents must rely on information written on articles of clothing or handwritten notes found among their property, adults within the group, and/or the consulate of their home country.'
Minors without guardians who arrive at the US southern border are, unlike some illegal migrants, not immediately deported.
Two young boys (6 and 2) were found at 6.30am on Tuesday by border patrol agents with the information of their family in the US scribbled on their white t-shirts
The children were found with a group of 18 illegal migrants, including six other children in an area near La Grulla, Texas. Border patrol agents in the Rio Grande valley have intercepted more than 70,000 unaccompanied minors this year alone
Illegal migration has climbed significantly over the last few years under the Biden administration
Instead, children are placed in the care of federal agents until such a time that family or other relations of the child can be located in the United States.
If no family can be found, unaccompanied children must be sent back to their country of origin.
Current policies, according to the New York Post, have allowed for more than 140,000 unaccompanied migrant children to arrive at the southern border in 2022 alone.
It has also increased the number of illegal migrants who attempt to pose as children in order to avoid deportation. Border patrol said it has apprehended close to 700 child-imposters in the El Paso, Texas area since October.
This week, border officials released new figures showing more than 2 million arrests of illegal migrants at the southern border had taken place this fiscal year. That figure is up
