6-month-old Girl Rescued After Thrown Into Rio Grande At Texas Border

A 6-month-old girl is safe after she was thrown into the Rio Grande along the Texas-Mexico border this month.

The girl and her mother had been waiting in Mexico to cross into the United States, KVEO reported.

The mother paid smugglers $3,500 to get them across the river. The mother was assaulted by the smugglers in Mexico and had a broken leg.

Nearly 67 adults and 150 children were attempting to cross the river with the mother and her daughter on March 16. Smugglers tossed the infant in the water when Border Patrol agents caught the group trying to cross.

“They did that to distract law enforcement so it would become a rescue operation,” Lt. Christopher Olivarez, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety, told the Wall Street Journal.

The smugglers managed to get away as Border Patrol agents rescued the baby and the others in the raft.

News of the rescue comes as thousands of migrant families and children attempt to cross into the United States as they flee violence, poverty, and the effects of natural disasters in Central America. Nearly 4,100 migrants are being held at a facility in Donna, Texas, the Associated Press reported.

Unaccompanied children are also being housed at convention centers in Dallas and San Diego, and sites in El Paso and San Antonio due to a lack of space.

Photo: Getty Images