4-year-old girl found alone at border remains in US custody

(NewsNation) —  Officials with the Texas Department of Public Safety and the U.S. Border Patrol proceed to spot a surge of minors aft they said they person encountered more than 100 unaccompanied minors on the U.S.-Mexico borderline implicit the past week.

Among the children who person been recovered successful the United States is simply a 4-year-old miss from Honduras who officials said they recovered unsocial aft she was smuggled by coyotes passim South America.

The parent of the miss told NewsNation that she is inactive waiting for a telephone telephone from U.S. migration officials astir erstwhile her girl volition beryllium released. The toddler has been successful the custody of borderline officials for much than a week.

The girl’s parent said she was provided photos of her girl by Mexican smugglers who were liable for getting the miss into the United States. At times, the smugglers allowed the miss to pass with her parent by FaceTime.

The pistillate told NewsNation that the smuggler yet stopped answering her telephone calls regarding her daughter. She said that she believed that her girl was kidnapped and was unaccounted for earlier she received confirmation from borderline officials that the young miss was successful their custody.

Sources told NewsNation that the surge successful unaccompanied children is taking spot successful Maverick County, Texas, on with neighboring Val Verde County. Maverick County is an country known to beryllium controlled by transgression smugglers contempt not having a dense beingness of Mexican cartel members.

Surveillance footage has shown a young miss being smuggled into the state crossed the Rio Grande River. A miss matching the statement of the kid seen successful the footage was aboriginal recovered successful a conveyance that was pulled implicit by police.

The girl’s mother, a Mexican nationalist surviving successful North America, told constabulary that she said $8,000 to a smuggling enactment to person her girl brought into the U.S. Officials person charged a antheral successful the incidental and told NewsNation that the girl’s parent could besides look transgression charges.