When the police asked her where she was going, she simply replied: “With my mom and dad” and when they asked her where they were, she simply answered: “United States”
A migrant girl from El Salvador, only two years old, was found alone on the border between the United States and Mexico, holding a piece of paper with a name and a phone number, according to the authorities of the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) through social networks.
The discovery occurred on Sunday in Maverick County, Texas, where a group of more than 200 migrants, including 60 unaccompanied minors, were detained after crossing the border irregularly. Among them, the minor, dressed in a bright pink jacket, drew attention because of her young age and because she was traveling completely alone.
In a video released by DPS, the girl answered questions from an officer. When questioned about her fate, she said she was looking for her parents: “With my mom and dad,” she said. When asked about his location, he replied, “The United States.”
The minor showed a small piece of yellow paper on which a name and a telephone number were written. The authorities have not reported whether they have already managed to locate the girl’s parents or identify the person to whom the contact corresponds written on the paper.
Chris Olivarez, a lieutenant and spokesman for DPS, said on social media that the girl’s case was a clear example of the “precarious journey” that children make from their country of origin “and how criminal organizations traffic them across the southern border and into the interior.”
“Regardless of political opinions, it is unacceptable for a child to be exposed to dangerous criminal trafficking networks,” Olivarez said in his X (formerly Twitter) post.
The spokesman added that there is a “record number” of unaccompanied children and another “hundreds of thousands” who are missing, likewise, there is no one to guarantee their safety, except for “the men and women who are on the front line every day.” Similarly, he commented that “many children” suffer from exploitation and trafficking “and nothing is ever heard from them again.”
“DPS has rescued more than 900 children during Operation Lone Star from abandonment and human trafficking,” Olivarez said.
Attached to the information of the discovery of the two-year-old girl, the DPS spokesman shared a series of images and videos of unaccompanied minors, highlighting that of a Salvadoran infant who was heading to Washington state.
In the same clip, a group of unaccompanied minors of different ages can be seen, some from El Salvador, others from countries such as Guatemala and Honduras with destinations as varied as California, North Carolina, Florida, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.
The youngest of all those interviewed in the videos shared by Olivarez was a 9-year-old boy who claimed to be from El Salvador and who was looking to go to California.
On the other hand, the department’s agent attached a clip in which an exclusive row of underage women was interviewed. It was found that some came from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala and other countries, highlighting the discovery of a four-year-old girl and a seven-year-old girl.
There was a case of a Chinese single father who abandoned his child in an airport in my country, and he left a letter hidden in his sons luggage that he left with him explaining that he was a poor man who had no support, and that when his mother died he lacked both the knowledge and means to be an effective father, so he left him so he would have a chance at a good life in a good country, and that it was never lack of love that led him to this…
I imagine it’s a scenario where two parents had a connection with someone in the group or somehow had a more trustworthy relationship with one of the coyotes and basically said, “Make sure she gets to point X and then let the American authorities take her.”
I am comfortable with the logic of it. It makes more sense than them completely abandoning her.
But, yeah, this is a wild situation, and I do not think that the parents are doing the right thing… Nonetheless, they are not total pieces of shit for this or anything.
It’s really not that hard to find stories like this, even if you’re extremely ignorant and oblivious of the hardships people have faced. Still, I commend you for trying!
That said, the person we’re replying to doesn’t seem to be open to learning or changing their mind. They believe they already know better than everyone else and likely just commented here to try and feel better about themselves.
The best we can hope for, imo, is that people will read our comments trying to reach them with basic kindness and respect and see how they still act pissy and stupid when faced with new information that goes against what their parents taught them.