Migrant girl, 10, SAVED from drowning by U.S. solder after being abandoned by illegal border-crossers
El Salvador migrant girl was saved from drowning by a U.S. Army soldier after being abandoned by smugglers.
- A 10-year-old migrant girl was rescued by a U.S. soldier as she was drowning in the Rio Grande.
- The child was abandoned by three other individuals trying to cross the Mexican-American border.
- CBP data shows an alarming rise in unaccompanied children illegally crossing the southwestern border.
On Tuesday evening, several individuals were illegally crossing the Mexican-American border. They were detected by a U.S. soldier assigned to the U.S Northern Command’s lead unit that is assisting CBP in the Laredo area, as reported by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
According to Daily Mail, three of the four individuals fled back to Mexico. However, they left behind a 10-year-old girl, who struggled to stay afloat in the Rio Grande river.
As the child was about to drown, the U.S. soldier jumped into the water and rescued her. He brought her to the Laredo, Texas shore.
The girl is currently in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services custody.
Thankfully, CBP stated that the 10-year-old was in good health. They reported that this was the second southwestern border crossing incident for 2021 that involved a life-saving action in the Rio Grande.
Matthew J. Hudak, chief patrol agent for the Laredo sector, said:
“It is frustrating to me as a parent to see a young child left by smugglers to fend for herself in the swift currents of the Rio Grande River. With the aid of technology, the smuggling attempt was detected and a U.S. Army soldier supporting our agents was able to quickly get to the lone child and pull her out of the water to safety.”
This dangerous situation could have had a deadly outcome. Smugglers abandoned an noncitizen unaccompanied child in the Rio Grande River as they fled back to Mexico. https://t.co/DyntGJwtff pic.twitter.com/SqYrhUhRy4
— Chief Patrol Agent Matthew J. Hudak (@USBPChiefLRT) April 21, 2021
It was revealed that the El Salvadoran girl is the third unaccompanied child rescued by U.S. force agents in the region for less than a week. Last Thursday, BP deputies assigned to CBP’s Del Rio Sector found two Honduras boys, 7 and 13, abandoned on a small island in the middle of the river. They were traveling with a man who had told them he would help them get across the border but later disappeared.
According to CBP data, in February, BP agents detected 9,271 unaccompanied migrant children. In March, the number skyrocketed to 18,663.
