Smugglers drop 2-year-old from border wall, Border Patrol says

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A border wall site near the Texas-Mexico border near Alamo, Texas, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)

Smugglers dropped a 2-year-old child from atop the 18-foot-high border wall near San Diego, the U.S. Border Patrol said on Wednesday.

They dropped him into his father's arms below, authorities said.  Border Patrol agents witnessed the incident Sunday when using remote video surveillance systems.

The agents say they saw a group of individuals illegally entering the U.S. by climbing over the border wall. While watching the group, a small child was seen being suspended from atop the wall and being dropped to an awaiting person below, Border Patrol said.

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Agents arrived on the scene soon afterward and arrested the group. The child was uninjured. Further investigation revealed that the smuggler had dropped the child into its father's arms below.

"This event could have been catastrophic," said U.S. Border Patrol, San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Aaron M. Heitke.  "It is not only unlawful, but inherently dangerous to cross the border anywhere outside of a designated port of entry."

Both the father and child were determined to be citizens of Ghana with no legal status inside the U.S.

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This is the second recent incident where children were dropped over the border wall.

In late March, agents released a shocking video of smugglers dropping a 5-year-old girl and a 3-year-old girl over a 14-foot border barrier and then abandoning them.

The two smugglers were seen fleeing the area on the southern side of the fence.