Smugglers Abandon Two Little Girls After Crossing Border into Texas

Texas Department of Public Safety troopers rescued two young girls who were abandoned by human smugglers along the Rio Grande after crossing from Mexico. During his successful bid to retake the White House, President-Elect Donald Trump called on Congress to apply the death penalty to child traffickers.

Texas DPS Spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez posted a photo on social media showing a nine-year-old girl holding a note with the address and phone number of a contact in the United States. Callous human smugglers abandoned the little girl and her five-year-old companion after crossing the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, Texas.

The only thing the Snoopy shirt-wearing little girl had in her possession was a note from a contact person in the U.S. The post does not indicate where this contact lives or if they are related to either of the abandoned.

Instead of turning the children over to Child Protective Services in Texas, they were released to Border Patrol agents for processing into the U.S.

In July 2023, then-candidate Trump called for using Title 42 to end child trafficking by immediately returning trafficked children to their countries of origin. He also called on Congress to make the trafficking of children a capital offense.

“When I’m back in the White House,” Trump said in the video, “I will immediately end the Biden border nightmare that traffickers are using to exploit vulnerable women and children.”

“I will use Title 42 to end the child trafficking crisis by returning all trafficked children to their families in their home countries, without delay,” he continued. “I will urge Congress to ensure that anyone caught trafficking children across our border receives the death penalty… immediately.”

During Fiscal Year 24, President Joe Biden’s last full year in office, Border Patrol agents encountered more than 109,000 unaccompanied minors who were trafficked into the United States. During the two prior years, agents discovered nearly 290,000 more.

During FY2020, President Trump’s last full year in his first term, agents encountered only 33,239 unaccompanied minors — down from less than 89,000 the year before.