By Rebecca Shabad and Monica Alba -
NBC News
A baby on Tuesday caused White House security systems to put Secret Service officers in motion.
The Uniformed Division of the Secret Service encountered a "curious young visitor" on the north fence of the White House after he briefly entered the grounds of the presidential palace, spokesman Anthony Gugliemi said in a statement.
"The White House security system immediately alerted Secret Service officers and the infant and parents were promptly reunited," it said.
Members of the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service carry a small child who entered.
to the White House grounds, Tuesday, April 18, 2023.AP
The area in front of the north fence of the White House, near Lafayette Square, is a popular destination for tourists.
The Secret Service did not provide any additional details about the baby or its parents.
[Nearly 1,000 migrant children separated by the Trump Administration have yet to be reunited with their parents]
It could be the first intrusion into the White House complex since the fence was doubled in height to nearly 13 feet in recent years, after a series of trespasses.
Although taller, the new fence has an extra inch of space between the bars, for a total of 5.5 inches.
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This isn't the first baby to go in like that.
Another baby slipped through the bars and ended up on the White House lawn in 2014.
Other, more serious breaches of the White House perimeter have also taken place.
In 2014, for example, a 43-year-old man armed with a folding knife scaled one of the fences and made his way into the East Wing.
The man was sentenced in 2015 to 17 months in prison.
Then-President Barack Obama and his family were not at the residence at the time.
The event prompted the Secret Service to launch an investigation into his security practices at the presidential residence.
