A heartbreaking video has surfaced from the US-Mexico border that shows a human smuggler leaving behind a one-year-old boy. The toddler from Guatemala was abandoned by the smuggler, called coyote (a loanword from Mexican Spanish), who emerged from the Colorado River carrying him, the New York Post reported. The entire video has been captured by surveillance cameras installed along the US-Mexico border. It shows the smuggler placing the youngster on a track between two sections of the border. He then swims back into Mexico, leaving the child all alone.
The toddler can be seen getting up and walking around the edge, dangerously close to falling into the water at any moment.
A border patrol agent is later seep approaching the spot and rescuing the boy.
"Thanks to our agent's quick response, tragedy was averted," US Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz said on Twitter while sharing a photo of the toddler now safe with the agent.
The smuggler left the toddler behind and a border patrol official rescued him.
About 200,000 people try to cross the border from Mexico to the United States each month, news agency AFP reported. Most are from Central and South America, and cite poverty and violence back home in requesting asylum.
According to US Customs and Border Protection, more than 58,000 unaccompanied minors have been identified by the officials since October last year.
It further said that the 2023 fiscal year is set to outpace last year's record, which saw nearly 2.4 million illegal migrants being arrested at the southern border crossing point.
The Biden administration has been hoping to stem the record tide of migrants and asylum seekers undertaking often dangerous journeys organised by human smugglers to get to the United States.
In January, the White House proposed expanding a controversial rule to allow border guards to turn away more would-be migrants if they arrive by land.
