U.S. Border Patrol agents are searching the Rio Grande River near Del Rio in Texas for a missing two-year-old girl.
According to a news release issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a woman from Haiti and her toddler, a national of Brazil, were crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico on Monday when the child went missing.
The woman was detained by U.S. Border Patrol late on Monday, and alerted agents that her daughter was lost as they were crossing the river.
According to the release, agents from the Del Rio station and Border Patrol Search Trauma and Rescue unit, with assistance from law enforcement teams from Mexico searched the river overnight and throughout the day on Tuesday.
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On Wednesday, the agency tweeted, saying the search for the missing toddler was ongoing.
“Any time a child is lost it is a tragic event,” Del Rio sector chief patrol agent Raul L. Ortiz said in a statement. “I can not imagine the anguish the parents of this young girl must be feeling and I hope search efforts pay off with a positive outcome.”
Image of drowned father-daughter
The news comes just over a week after a tragic photo was published of a father and daughter from El Salvador who drowned in the river on their way to the U.S.
Oscar Alberto Martinez and his 23-month-old daughter Valeria were found face-down in shallow water along the bank of the river.
The image was captured by journalist Julia Le Duc and was published by La Jorndada, a Mexican newspaper.
The devastating image highlights the perils that migrants face when trying to reach asylum in the U.S.
The bodies of Martinez and his daughter were returned to El Salvador for burial on Sunday.
A dangerous journey
According to The Guardian, the river, which runs between Matamoros, Mexico, and Brownsville, Texas, is dangerous to cross.
The newspaper reported that dozens of people have drowned in it in the past year.
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While migrants may realize the risk upon reaching the river, the Guardian noted that turning back would mean surrendering to Mexican authorities and being sent back to their native country.
A total of 283 migrant deaths were recorded along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico border last year.
The official death toll so far this year has yet to be released.
On June 23, the bodies of a 20-year-old woman, two toddlers and an infant were found near the river in Texas.
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The discovery was made southeast of Anzalduas Park in Las Paloma Wildlife Management Area, an area often used for illegal border crossing.
The FBI is currently investigating the incident.
Number of asylum seekers surge in May
Numbers released in June showed the U.S. Border Patrol’s apprehension of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border hit the highest level in more than a decade.
WATCH: Nearly 3,400 distressed migrants rescued along U.S.-Mexico border this year: U.S. Border Patrol
Agents made 132,887 apprehensions in May, the first time that apprehensions have topped 100,000 since April 2007.
It set a record with 84,542 adults and children apprehended. Another 11,507 were children travelling alone, and 36,838 were single adults.
Mexico says number of migrant apprehensions declined in June
On Tuesday, Mexico’s foreign ministry said migrant apprehensions at the U.S.-Mexico border fell 30 per cent in June from the previous month.
Citing data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Mexico’s foreign ministry said 100,037 migrants were apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border in June, down from 144,278 migrants in May, including people who appeared at ports of entry and were deemed inadmissible.
However, the June numbers did not appear on CBP’s website as of Wednesday.
— With files from Maham Abedi, Rachael D’Amore and The Associated Press.
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