During one week in March, Mexican authorities discovered over 370 children abandoned by individuals attempting to illegally enter the United States. According to a foreign wire report, 163 of the recovered minors were “dumped” because they were not traveling with an adult guardian.
The Mexican National Institute of Migration said in a recent press release that children entering the U.S. alone have recently “increased significantly.” Some experts assert that this figure has increased because U.S. border security has been weakened by left-wing efforts.
Zack Taylor, Chairman of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers (NAFBPO), said it is not uncommon for children to be abandoned during the smuggling process. While he was a Border Patrol agent, Taylor encountered many children left by traffickers in the U.S. after a smuggler had successfully gotten them into the country.
In most cases, Mexican parents will pay a smuggler $5,000-6,000 to transport their child across the border, according to Taylor. Once the child successfully enters the U.S., a trafficker then typically holds them until a second payment is received from the parents. Once the subsequent payment is made, the trafficker takes the child to their destination city. Taylor told Breitbart Texas, “Now the parents have a child, or several children, here in the U.S. This compels them to follow their children and enter the country as well.”
Children may be abandoned during the smuggling process for various reasons, Taylor added. In some cases, the smuggler decides it is too dangerous to take the child across the border–in other instances the parents cannot afford the second round of payments once the child is inside the U.S.
Discarded children often become victims of human trafficking or other forms of slavery, Taylor said.
“The U.S. is partly responsible for foreign nationals taking extreme measures that risk the lives of their children,” Taylor said. “Our government is encouraging foreign nationals to come into our country illegally and stay.” He argued foreign nationals are compelled to enter the U.S. illegally because the Obama Administration pushes a narrative which victimizes immigrants–while demonizing Border Patrol Agents. That narrative is subsequently trumpeted and intensified by the left-leaning media.
The U.S. continues to embolden the horrors of illegal immigration by not shining a light on it, Taylor continued.
“Many of the crimes committed by aliens are so great, that to not to speak out against it shows you are complicit in it,” Taylor said. He noted that in Dallas, Texas instead of focusing on the many issues facing the city due to illegal immigration, the media chooses to focus on issues of lesser importance. “All they’re talking about right now is the plastic bag ban in Dallas,” Taylor said. “That’s deflecting attention away from what really matters.”
“The media, and in some circumstances the government, plants environmental issues in front of the various heinous crimes happening simultaneously,” Taylor said. “They are actively diverting scrutiny away from what is eroding the family in the U.S. and Mexico… the important thing to remember about border issues is that nothing is ever as it seems.”
Follow Kristin Tate on Twitter @KristinBTate
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