Toddler picked up at the southern border alone, tells police she came to U.S. to find her parents

MAVERICK COUNTY, TX - Authorities say that a two-year-old illegal immigrant was found at the U.S. border on Sunday, November 24th, alone and clutching a piece of paper that had just a first name and phone number on it.

According to the New York Post, the child is from El Salvador and was among a group of more than 200 illegal immigrants, including 60 unaccompanied minors, that were detained after illegally crossing the southern border into Maverick County, Texas.

Footage of the little girl caused outrage among many in New York City and other sanctuary cities, expressing their frustrations with the Biden-Harris administration and the failure at protecting the most vulnerable of asylum-seekers.

Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, a long-time critic of Biden and Harris on their immigration policies, said in a statement, "By refusing to enforce the law, the Biden-Harris administration continues to put vulnerable children at risk, including hundreds and thousands of migrant kids they lost track of since taking office."

House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green (R-TN) called the situation "unconscionable," adding, "In a hearing just last week, a whistleblower and former HHS employee revealed the Biden-Harris administration has routinely failed to properly screen and vet sponsors of these children in order to expedite processing amid the border crisis."

He said, "Putting optics over safety has led to countless children in danger or unaccounted for. This refusal to protect vulnerable alien children from abuse, exploitation, and human trafficking will be one of the defining failures of the Biden-Harris administration."

New York City Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens) said that he was infuriated when he watched the video of the little girl. He said, "It's heartbreaking. I have a two-year-old grandson and a five-year-old granddaughter. It makes my blood boil. We can only imagine how much this poor kid suffered."

He added, "No civilized person in his right mind could imagine this. The solution is to secure the border; the children are the innocent victims here." The Texas Department of Public Safety released video of its interview with the toddler, who said she was traveling along as she answered a slew of questions. 

When an officer asked her where she was going, she said, "With my mom and dad." When asked where her parents where, she said, "United States." According to the latest U.S. Customs and Border Protection data, well over 529,000 migrant kids have illegally entered the U.S. under the Biden-Harris administration.

A report released in August revealed that the Biden-Harris administration lost track of more than 320,000 of the migrant children who have illegally crossed the border without their parents. Texas immigration authorities said cases such as this one are especially tragic because local officials often never learn what ends up happening to the kids.

Texas DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez said, "It's very concerning when we come across any type of child that's coming across the border alone, especially on a piece of paper, just we don't know exactly what happens to them on their journey and where they end up afterwards."

He wrote on X, this is a "stark reminder of the precarious journey these children make from their home country and how criminal organizations traffic these children across the southern border and further into the interior. Regardless of political views, it is unacceptable for any child to be exposed to dangerous criminal trafficking networks."

Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) said, "I am anxious and excited to get to work with Tom Homan and the strong and decisive leaders President Trump has tapped to fix our border so that we can ensure that travesties like these never happen again in our country." Congressman Mike Lawler, a Republican who represents the lower Hudson Valley in New York said, "To see unaccompanied children crossing the border to find their parents is horrific and emblematic of just how broken our immigration system currently is."

Staten Island Borough President and former Congressman Vito Fossella added, "This is gut-wrenching. How does this happen? This is the fruit of a poisonous policy. This is why Donald Trump won the election. The sight of this two-year-old alone puts sharp focus that the border policy has to change."