By Mirna Alsharif and Erick Mendoza —
NBC News
A 4-month-old baby and a 1 1/2-year-old boy were found Friday in the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, according to a Customs and Border Protection agent.
The little ones were abandoned in the desert, located in southern Arizona and bordering Mexico, by smugglers
“so they would die
,” said John R. Modlin, chief agent of the Tucson Sector of the Border Patrol, on Twitter.
"This is cruelty,"
he condemned.
“And it's heartbreaking.
I commend our agents for their swift response to this horrific incident and to every incident where the lives of migrants are at stake.”
This mother mourns the death of her little daughter who drowned while trying to cross the border
Aug. 23, 202202:14
The 4-month-old was unresponsive when she was found,
but patrol officers were able to revive her, according to Modlin.
“The cruelty of the smugglers cannot be underestimated,” he added.
[Two Mexican brothers die embracing in the Arizona desert after being abandoned by their coyote at the border]
Earlier this week, two children died and a baby was in critical condition after being pulled from the Rio Grande during separate attempts to cross into the United States from Mexico.
The tragic incidents come amid a recent decline in apprehensions of undocumented immigrants crossing the southern border of the United States, after reaching an all-time high in May.
The baby who was saved from drowning in the Rio Grande is still in critical condition.
another child died
Aug. 24, 202200:32
The decline comes amid a surge in U.S.-assisted coyote apprehensions in Central America, according to internal briefing materials obtained by NBC News.
CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations agents, including some operating in Central American countries, were responsible for apprehending an average of 240 smugglers in a single week in June alone, according to government records. .