EDINBURG, Texas – On Monday, agents apprehended a group of 13 illegal aliens as they crossed the Rio Grande south of Granjeno, Texas. As the group was being processed, a Honduran woman carrying her one year-old infant informed agents that her child had been intentionally struck in the head by one of the smugglers.
The woman stated that prior to crossing into the United States, the infant was crying and was inconsolable. As she tried to calm her child, one of the smugglers struck the baby in the head with a flashlight to silence the child. Agents transported the mother and the infant to the hospital for medical evaluation. The child was cleared by medical staff and released.
“This incident highlights how these callous smugglers have no regard for the safety or well-being of the people they bring into the country,” said Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Patrol Agent Manuel Padilla, Jr. “In the human smuggling trade, people are viewed as a commodity with a cash value that can be traded, exploited or discarded as needed.”
