As many as 48,610 children without legal guardians have crossed the U.S.-Mexico border since the start of the fiscal year that began in October, the U.S. Border Patrol revealed.
During the same period, 1.2 million people crossed the US border illegally, statistics show US Customs and Border Protection show.
In the El Paso sector of the border, 5,800 unaccompanied children have been found near the international border, El Paso Border Patrol Chief Anthony Good tweeted Monday.
The shocking figure was posted in recent days alongside the photo of a young boy reaching the border at El Paso, Texas.
In the image, a border patrol kneels with the boy as the vast desert surrounds them.
“Traveling alone can be a frightening and dangerous experience,” the social media post states.
A young boy was found in recent days near the U.S.-Mexico border near El Paso, Texas, the U.S. Border Patrol said.
Two Guatemalan brothers, aged 6 and 2, were found with writings on their clothes as they informed US police where their relatives could be found in the US in September 2022.
Texas Border Patrol agents have recovered five unaccompanied migrant children with notes with addresses in New York and Texas.
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers found the five young children in Eagle Pass after crossing the Rio Grande with a group of 60 illegal immigrants
“El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents are always prepared to meet and assist this vulnerable population.”
Since the border crisis began in 2021, there have been several heartbreaking cases of little ones being smuggled across the border with nothing but a slip of paper to alert U.S. authorities where to find their relatives in the country.
Five children, ages 5 to 11, were found last month with addresses in New York and Texas, near the Rio Grande in the Lone Star State.
A little girl’s note read “Schenectady, Nueva York” and included a name.
Another migrant boy held a torn piece of paper with a Texas zip code scrawled on it.
The number of children arriving at the southern border is on pace to surpass 2022 numbers — when 158,865 little ones entered the country in a 12-month period, according to federal statistics.
Last year, 145,474 unaccompanied minors arrived – defined by federal immigration authorities as any minor traveling with a legal guardian.
In some cases the child travels with an aunt, uncle or other relative who does not qualify as a legal guardian, but in most cases the minors are completely alone.
So far this year, 48,610 unaccompanied minors have crossed the border this fiscal year, which ends at the end of September
Unaccompanied children end up in a residential facility called Southwest Keys. The photo above was shared on the organization’s website
Unaccompanied minors who reach the U.S. southern border are not deported to their home countries, which is sometimes unknown because they can arrive without any form of identification.
They can remain in custody for a maximum of 72 hours
The children are then placed in the care of the federal government at the Office of Refugee Resettlement until the child can be reunited with family in the US or returned to their home country if there is no family in the US.
That U.S. policy has led to a growing number of illegal immigrants posing as children in an effort to avoid deportation — with nearly 700 young impostors arrested in El Paso, Texas, in 2022, according to the FBI.
The Office of Refugee Resettlement places the children in residential facilities called Southwest Keys.
“Most youth in our care are between the ages of 13 and 17 and often come from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador,” according to the Southwest Keys website.
There have been 27 Southwest Keys shelters destroyed across the border, including 17 in Texas, two in California and eight in Arizona.
“Our goal is to reunite unaccompanied minors with loved ones or sponsors as quickly as possible, while adhering to strict federal requirements necessary to ensure their safety,” the program said. shared on her website.
“The typical length of stay for minors in our shelters is 32 days or less.”
In an institution, the children receive medical care, education, religious services and guidance if necessary.