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Snakes and Thorny Brush, and Children at the Border Alone

July 05, 2014 (1 min read)

Hidalgo, Texas: "Border agents drove their patrol vehicles one recent day at dusk through this spit of land on the bank of the Rio Grande.  Here, in a place known as the Devil’s Corner, smugglers on the Mexican side have chosen to bring thousands of women and children to American soil.  After only a few minutes scouting the dirt roads, the agents came upon a cluster of [refugees], huddled in tall grass under palm trees, seeking respite from the baking heat.  They made no effort to flee as the Border Patrol drove up.  Questioned by the agents, a boy from Honduras said his name was Alejandro and that he was 8 years old.  “Who are you with?” asked Raul L. Ortiz, deputy chief of the Border Patrol for the Rio Grande Valley, speaking in Spanish.  “By myself,” Alejandro said, looking up at the man in the olive uniform and pulling a birth certificate, carefully folded, from his jeans — the only item he carried." - Julia Preston, New York Times, June 26, 2014.

Photo by Jennifer Whitney