US-Mexico Border

Infant and Toddler Survive After Being Left Alone in Arizona Desert ‘To Die'

Smugglers were responsible for leaving the 4 and 18-month-old children in the Sonoran Desert “to die,” according to a U.S. Border Patrol agent

FILE - U.S. Border Patrol supervisory agent Rick McPherson
Tom Pennington/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

A 4-month-old infant and an 18-month-old toddler were found in Arizona’s Sonoran Desert on Friday, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent.

The young children were left in the desert, which is located in the south of Arizona and borders Mexico, by smugglers “to die,” according to a tweet from John R. Modlin, chief patrol agent of the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector.

“This is cruelty,” he said in the tweet. “And it is gut-wrenching. I commend our agents for their quick response to this dreadful incident and to every incident in which migrant lives are at stake.”

The 4-month-old infant was found unresponsive, but patrol agents were able to revive her, according to Modlin.

Read the full story on NBCNews.com here.

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