Two little girls from Ecuador were thrown over the high border wall into the USA by strangers.
The US border protection agency CBP announced that it was a child between the ages of three and five.
The incident occurred in the middle of the night on the border between Mexico and the United States and was observed by a border guard using a camera.
The smugglers had climbed the more than four meter high wall with the children that night and then dropped the children - in the middle of the desert of the US state of New Mexico.
According to official statistics, nearly 13,000 migrant children are in the care of the US Department of Health, and another 5285 have been cared for by the Border Protection Agency.
More than 500 unaccompanied children and young people from Mexico come to the US border every day - watch a video of the children's suffering here.
Border guard horrified
The incident with the two girls had happened miles from the nearest settlement, according to the CBP.
The little girls were reportedly first taken to a CBP station in Santa Teresa.
From there, they were transported to a local hospital for security.
Border guard Gloria Chavez said she was "appalled" at how "contemptuous people smugglers" could throw innocent children from the border fortifications.
The perpetrators should be found in cooperation with the Mexican authorities.
Enlarge image
Border fence in Tijuana secured with barbed wire
Photo: Omar Martinez / dpa
While adults at the Mexican border are usually turned away immediately, the new administration of US President Joe Biden wants to take care of unaccompanied young people in the USA for the time being.
They should be able to be picked up by relatives or friends who already live in the country.
A decision as to whether they can remain permanently has not yet been made - the courts will judge that later.
apr / AFP