United States Border Patrol released a disturbing video Wednesday, showing what appears to be someone scaling the 14-foot border fence and dropping a toddler and a child onto the U.S. side, along with their belongings.
"I’m appalled by the way these smugglers viciously dropped innocent children from a 14-foot border barrier last night. If not for the vigilance of our agents using mobile technology, these two tender-aged siblings would have been exposed to the harsh elements of desert environment for hours," El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez says.
The children are described as 3-year-old and 5-year-old sisters. The two were dropped at the border in the New Mexico desert in the middle of the night.
The two smugglers then are seen fleeing from the southern side of the fence.
Chavez said the little girls were left "miles from the nearest residence." The two were rescued by agents after they were seen via surveillance video.
"We are currently working with our law enforcement partners in Mexico and attempting to identify these ruthless human smugglers so as to hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law," she added.
There are currently almost 16,000 minors in the custody of U.S. authorities, 4,878 in Border Patrol facilities and 10,800 more in the care of the Department of Health and Human Services, according to official data collected by NBC News.