US agents found a three-year-old boy crying in a corn field on the border with Mexico, with his name and a phone number written on his shoes, US authorities said on Wednesday.
The federal agency of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said the boy was found early on Tuesday morning. He was “abandoned” by a group of alleged illegal immigrants who had crossed into the United States from Mexico near Brownsville, Texas.
When the agents tried to intercept the group, they dispersed in the dense vegetation,”
CBP said in a statement.
The boy, who was alone and crying, was discovered during a patrol and taken to a local hospital, where it was determined that he was in good condition. The efforts to locate his family so far have been unsuccessful.
The minor, who did not speak well enough to communicate, is being treated at a CBP center and will be delivered into the custody of the Department of Health.
According to CBP, border patrol agents arrested 92,607 people along the US Southwest border in March, compared with 66,884 in February. Some of the detainees in March were 8,975 unaccompanied children.
President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States would send armed soldiers to the southern border after Mexican soldiers recently “fired” at US troops, intensifying their verbal war with Mexico over immigration.