Migrant children abandoned by alleged smuggler rescued by Texas DPS amid triple-digit heat

Ten unaccompanied migrant children abandoned near the Texas border in triple-digit temperatures were rescued by state authorities, the Texas Department of Public Safety said Thursday. 

The minors from Honduras were found at the edge of the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass by the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Brush Team. 

“With temperatures exceeding 115°, smugglers continue to place children in dangerous conditions,” Chris Olivarez, the agency’s spokesperson, said in a statement posted to Twitter along with footage of the children recovering in the shade after their rescue. 

“Great work by our Troopers!” he added. 

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There was no word on if any of the children suffered any heat injuries or if any arrests have been made. Fox News Digital has reached out to the DPS.

The rescue comes amid a border crisis in Texas as waves of migrants continue to cross into the U.S. illegally, often trusting their lives to paid human smugglers. 

On Tuesday, DPS arrested an alleged human smuggler who helped five migrants cross the Rio Grande and scale the border wall with a ladder. 

The man, identified as Jose Juan Eufracio Medina, denied being a smuggler to officials. The five migrants from El Salvador and Guatemala were also detained. 

The Border Patrol apprehended more than 10,000 migrants a day in the two days before Title 42 expired last month, in the highest single-day totals ever recorded. 

Title 42 allowed for the rapid expulsion of migrants at the southern border since March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its looming end brought fears of a new migrant wave at the border — even amid an already historic crisis.

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There were more than 200,000 Customs and Border Protection (CPB) encounters with migrants at the southern border in May as officials saw record daily highs before the end of Title 42 – followed by a sharp decrease once the public health order ended.

There were 204,561 encounters at the southern border in May. That’s down from the 241,136 encountered in May 2022 and higher than the 180,597 encountered in May 2021. It’s also down from the 211,159 seen in April.

Since May 11, numbers dropped sharply, with officials touting a 70% drop in encounters to above 3,000 a day. So far those numbers have appeared to have remained at around that level.

Last summer, two alleged human smugglers from Texas were indicted in the deadliest known case of smugglers taking migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border when 53 people died after being left in an abandoned, airless tractor-trailer in San Antonio. 

If convicted, the men could face life sentences and even the death penalty if the Attorney General’s Office authorizes prosecutors to seek it. 

Fox News’ Adam Sabes and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.