A 10-year-old boy was crying at the U.S.-Mexico border on Thanksgiving Day after smugglers abandoned him in a remote area. The boy, who travelled from El Salvador, came upon a Texas State Trooper in Maverick County. The little boy was only carrying a phone and told the trooper that his mother was in the United States. He was subsequently handed over to Customs and Border Patrol.
According to the New York Post, citing a report from Texas Department of Public Safety Lieutenant Christopher Olivarez, the little boy said that his parents, who went to the US earlier, trusted smugglers to bring him to the US, and he wanted to find them.
In a post made on X, formerly known as Twitter, Olivarez wrote, “As many of us are celebrating Thanksgiving with our families & friends. Let’s not forget many children will not get to enjoy the holidays or see their families because they have been placed in a dire situation due to open border conditions, and many more who are trafficked across the southern border are exploited and exposed to a dangerous criminal environment during their journey to the US.”
Olivarez also describes the trend of children journeying across the border alone as “concerning,” noting that the state authorities are unaware of what happens to the children during their journey and afterwards.”
Watch the video of the little boy below:
The Texas DPS troopers found a 2-year-old girl at the border earlier this week. The little girl, who was smuggled across the border in Maverick County, was alone without her parents. In her hand, she held a small piece of paper with a name and phone number written on it.
According to a report, a woman in South Carolina claimed to be the mother of the little girl and admitted to paying $4,500 in Honduras to have a smuggler bring her daughter across the U.S.-Mexico border.
