LAREDO, Texas – In two separate incidents, Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents ensured the safety of several unaccompanied minors during two failed human smuggling incidents.
The first incident occurred during the afternoon of August 28, when Laredo Police Department (LPD) requested assistance with an abandoned tractor-trailer near the corner of Bob Bullock Loop and Crepusculo Drive. Inside the trailer were over 100 undocumented individuals from the countries of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. Included in the group were five unaccompanied undocumented children who were all from the countries of Mexico and Honduras.
The second incident occurred on August 30, when agents assigned to the Laredo North Station responded to an alert of several individuals walking in a ranch north of Laredo. Included within the group was an unaccompanied undocumented child from the country of Mexico.
In both instances, the Mexican and Honduran Consulates were contacted to assist with the processing of these unaccompanied minors before they were repatriated to their country.
The Laredo Sector Border Patrol cannot stress enough the dangers and risks that undocumented individuals, especially unaccompanied minors, place themselves in when commencing their illegal journey into the United States. Without a legal guardian, these minors subject themselves to human smugglers who place them in increased danger during the high temperatures of summer and will abandon them at the first sign of danger in remote areas. Laredo Sector agents will continue to render aid to these minors exploited and abandoned by human smugglers.