Two-year-old boy abandoned by human traffickers near US-Mexico border

A two-year-old boy was discovered shirtless on the side of the road, apparently abandoned by the human traffickers taking him to the United States.

Officials in Veracruz, Mexico are now investigating. Multiple migrants abandoned their ride to the border after a 25-year-old man suffocated in the trailer from the heat and the cramped conditions, according to the New York Post.

The boy was reportedly part of a group of migrants traveling from Central America to the border inside a trailer. After one man suffocated, the migrants began pounding on the sides of the trailer asking to be let out. When one of the guides opened the door the people inside the trailer fled.

Immigration officers arrived finding eight men that were too ill to flee, along with a toddler. The men said none of them were the parent or guardian of the child nor did they know who was. Officials suspect the child may be from Guatemala.

Near the boy were packaged snacks, water bottles, clothes and black trash bags.  It is suspected that the truck could have been carrying up to 100 migrants attempting to reach the border. The boy was placed in the custody of Mexican child protection services while the adults were taken to a migrant station.

Officials say over 180,000 people were detained attempting to cross the border in May. Out of that, the US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) says they had 10,765 encounters with unaccompanied minors.

CBP commented on smugglers abandoning migrants mid journey saying, "Smuggling organizations are abandoning migrants in remote and dangerous areas, leading to a dramatic rise in the number of rescues CBP performs. In May 2021, CBP conducted 7,084 rescues nationwide, and CBP has rescued 35 percent more individuals in Fiscal Year 2021 than all of Fiscal Year 2020."