Watch: Smuggler brings child over border fence, leaves her alone
CHICAGO (NewsNation Now) — The U.S. Department of Defense released a video of a smuggler lifting a 7-year-old girl over the 30-foot U.S.-Mexico border wall in California and then leaving her while he returned to Mexico alone.
U.S. Border Patrol agents from El Centro Sector said they noticed the smuggling but waited until the child safely landed on U.S. soil before intervening.
“No one, let alone a child of any age or race, should be exposed to the multitude of dangers when crossing illegally into this country,” said Chief Patrol Agent Gregory K. Bovino. “Smugglers will always view children as a commodity to gain a profit, disregarding the safety and well-being of any individual except their own.”
The 7-year-old is from El Salvador. Once on American soil, she was transported to the El Centro Sector Processing Center to be medically evaluated and processed.
Mexican officials say money may be the solution to curb the flow of thousands of migrants into America.
“If the United States does not support Central America It’s very hard to think the migration flows that are happening will diminish,” Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard.
President Joe Biden said the U.S. will allocate $860 million to Central America over four years to address underlying causes of migration, according to Reuters.