‘GUT-WRENCHING’

Babies Found Abandoned in Sonoran Desert

A Border Patrol agent found the 4-month-old facedown and unresponsive, alongside a crying 18-month-old, authorities said.

A Border Patrol agent found two babies that had been abandoned in the Arizona desert this week, authorities said Friday. The discovery was made after a group of migrants who had been arrested alerted the agent that two babies had been left behind. The agent then found a 4-month-old lying facedown and unresponsive and an 18-month-old crying in the Organ Pipe National Monument, according to Tucson Sector Border Patrol Chief John Modlin. The babies were both taken to a hospital for treatment and then returned to the custody of Border Patrol, he said, calling the incident “gut-wrenching” and saying smugglers had left the young children “in the Sonoran Desert to die.” An expedited placement has been requested for the children with the Office of Refugee Resettlement.