Two Ecuadorean girls who were abruptly dumped over a steel barrier at the Mexico-United States border could soon be reunited with their parents in New York City, an official with Consulate of Ecuador in Houston told DailyMail.com on Wednesday.
Surveillance video footage released by Border Patrol showed the moment a human smuggler dropped the sisters, aged 3 and 5, over the 14-foot high border wall in New Mexico last Tuesday.
Another smuggler was waiting on the American side to catch the girl, who were then tossed to the ground. Both smugglers then fled, abandoning the children.
Thankfully, the camera operator immediately alerted Santa Teresa Border Patrol Station agents and directed them to the remote location.
Magdalena Núñez told DailyMail.com that Consulate of Ecuador officials had a chance to speak with the girls via videoconference call Monday.
‘The girls are in excellent health,’ she said in phone interview.
El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez provides snacks to the two girls from Ecuador who were abandoned by human smugglers and dropped over a 14-foot high border wall in New Mexico last Tuesday. An official with the Consulate of Ecuador in Houston told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that the children will be reunited with their parents, who reside in New York
Footage release by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows a human smuggler (top) climbing over the Mexico-United States border wall in New Mexico after dropping two sisters from Ecuador, aged 3 and 5, over the steel barrier last Tuesday
Núñez added that the consulate is pleased with the treatment that U.S. Customs and Border Protection has provided for the sisters, who are currently being held at the El Paso Processing Center.
U.S. federal guidelines stipulate that children can’t be held at the detention centers past 72 hours after they have been apprehended by the Border Patrol.
The law requires the children to be transferred to the care of the Department of Health and Human Services [HHS]. The Office of Refugee Resettlement is in charge of providing longer-term shelters for the minors.
Núñez could not provide a specific timeline for the girl to be reunited with their parents, who live in New York.
‘They will do it as agile as possible. The consulate has been looking to make sure that they are placed at a safe place,’ she said.
It’s unknown if the parents are legally residing in the United States.
Immediately after the girls landed on the ground, two smugglers could be seen fleeing on the Mexican side of the border
CBP stats show that more than 4,000 people who were abandoned by human smugglers, or ‘coyotes’ as they are referred to in Spanish, have been rescued by Border Patrol agents in the southwest border region since October 1, 2020.
‘The inhumane way smugglers abuse children while profiting off parents’ desperation is criminal and morally reprehensible. Just this month, a young girl died by drowning, a six-month-old was thrown into the river, and two young children were dropped from a wall and left in the desert alone,’ Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
‘There can be no doubt that children are exceptionally vulnerable when placed in the hands of smugglers. There is grave risk they will be exploited and harmed. I applaud our heroic Border Patrol agents who have saved lives this week and every week, while putting their own lives at risk for the greater good of the country.’
U.S. Border Patrol EL Paso Sector Chief Gloria Chavez previously had mentioned that the agency’s goal was to reunite the girls with the parents.
‘I’m appalled by the way these smugglers viciously dropped innocent children from a 14-foot border barrier at night. If they had not been seen, the girls could have been left in the desert for hours,’ Chavez said.
‘We are currently working with our law enforcement partners in Mexico and attempting to identify these ruthless human smugglers so as to hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law.’
New government statistics released last week revealed that 171,000 migrants were caught by US authorities at the border in March – the highest monthly total in two decades and the latest sign of the mounting humanitarian challenge confronting President Joe Biden.
The total includes about 19,000 unaccompanied migrant children and 53,000 family members traveling together, the preliminary figures showed.
The March arrest totals at the US-Mexico border represent the highest monthly level since April 2000 when border patrol agents caught more than 180,000 migrants.
