Siblings Abandoned at Border
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
LA GRULLA (News Release) – Rio Grande City Border Patrol Station (RGC) agents encountered noncitizen unaccompanied (NUC) minor siblings with their U.S. point of contact written on their shirts.
On September 20, at approximately 6:30 a.m., RGC agents encountered a group of 18 illegal migrants from Honduras, Guatemala, and Cuba near La Grulla. Within the group were eight NUCs, to include two brothers, aged two and six, from Guatemala. The siblings had their names and contact information of their U.S. contact written with a marker on their t-shirts. The illegal migrants were medically screened by a Border Patrol Emergency Medical Technician, who determined they were in good health. The group was transported to the station for further investigation.
RGV agents have encountered over 440,000 illegal migrants this fiscal year, 71,000 are NUCs. NUC encounters bring additional challenges for agents in the field and processing centers. Many of the unaccompanied children encountered by Border Patrol are very young and unable to provide names or phone numbers of family members. To locate a NUC’s next of kin, agents must rely on information written on articles of clothing or handwritten notes found among their property, adults within the group, and/or the consulate of their home country.
