A four-year-old migrant boy was dropped off a border wall in San Diego before U.S. Border Patrol agents and paramedics fired on from Mexico as they tended the abandoned child.
Surveillance camera footage released by Border Patrol Chief Raúl Ortiz shows an alleged smuggler clinging to the top of the barrier from the US side of the United States-Mexico border on May 15.
A child is seen sliding down the person’s leg and then falling to the floor landing on their feet before being instructed to wait to the side.
Moments later, the individual receives another person’s four-year-old behind the wall and appears to lose grip on the child, who falls to the floor as the other child comes running towards them.
An adult migrant drops a four-year-old boy while clinging to the top of the United States-Mexico border wall in San Diego on May 15. from Mexico
The person then climbs back over the wall and another adult is seen climbing over the wall and down to pick up and carry the boy away.
The security video shows a second person climbing the fence and walking the child along the dirt path.
The child who fell to the ground was left behind and later rescued by border officials, who were shot at. The officers and paramedics were unharmed.
“Officers reported hearing both the impact and reverberation of gunfire from the secondary border barrier just north of their location,” CBP said in a press release.
“With emergency medical services, the San Diego Fire Department and the child still on the scene, officers ordered everyone in the area to run for cover.”
Ortiz said the migrating child received medical attention and suffered no injuries.
‘Remarkably, the child is fine! Don’t trust smugglers!’ said Ortiz.
The incident is reminiscent of the March 2021 border episode in which a smuggler dumped two Ecuadorian migrant siblings across a steel barrier in New Mexico.
An officer manning a surveillance camera alerted officers from the Santa Teresa Border Patrol Station.
A unit was deployed to a remote area west of Mt. Cristo Rear near El Paso, Texas, and found the girls walking near the 15-foot wall.
The girls walked away without any injuries and were later reunited with their parents in the New York City area.
A four-year-old migrant boy (circled) collapsed to the ground during a smuggling attempt in San Diego. US Border Patrol agents were able to rescue the boy, who suffered no injuries after the terrifying fall
An adult migrant (lower left) carries a four-year-old boy after he fell off a border wall in San Diego before another adult climbed off the ball and guided a second child away
The release of the black and white images of San Diego comes as President Joe Biden continues to seek support from global partners in the Western Hemisphere to find solutions to the crisis on the southern border.
The Border Patrol had 28,717 migrants in custody as of May 10, a day before the pandemic-era Title 42 came to an end. As of Sunday, it was down 23 percent to 22,529.
Lifting the policy could certainly worsen the situation as smuggling networks continue to provide services to individuals and families who are routed from South America to Central America through the dangerous Darien Gorge between Colombia and Panama before continuing their journey through Mexico .
Biden has been to the border region between the United States and Mexico just once — in January — and had addressed the crisis by sending senior members of his administration to address the issue on his behalf across the region.
Gloria Chavez, chief patrol officer of the El Paso sector, provides snacks to the two girls from Ecuador who were abandoned by smugglers last Tuesday and dropped over a 13-foot border wall in New Mexico. An official from Ecuador’s consulate in Houston told DailyMail.com on Wednesday that the children will be reunited with their parents, who live in New York.
“No other president who has served in the Oval Office has the mileage, understanding and commitment that Joe Biden has had in the region. It’s just a fact,” said Arturo Sarukhan, Mexico’s ambassador to the US from 2007 to 2013. “That’s an important addition Biden brings to the table.”
Sarukhan said Biden’s approach focused on engagement and negotiation, sending top leaders to the region for discussions and invitations to Washington. “Biden didn’t put the gun to anyone’s forehead,” he said.
But immigrant advocates worry that the new approach will create costs likely to be paid by migrants fleeing persecution and poverty in their home countries.
“I really think they’re trying to control migration, rather than end migration,” said Yael Schacher, director for the Americas and Europe at Refugees International. “But controlling migration can also have human rights, terrible human rights, consequences. There’s a moral distancing — the ability to wipe your hands off a problem when it’s no longer on your doorstep.’