Missing migrant girl found alive

Earlier today, U.S. Border Patrol agents found a missing girl in Arizona’s Cochise County after she was separated from her father. Authorities in spent the overnight hours looking for the five-year-old child after her dad and she crossed the U.S.-Mexico border:

The girl was grabbed by a human smuggler as U.S. Border Patrol agents closed in on the group late Thursday, Cochise County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Carol Capas said. The smuggler was later seen during the search, but without the girl, Capas said. The girl’s father was later found by border agents.

The girl’s immediate condition was uncertain, though she was alive and was walking down into Miller Canyon with Border Patrol agents.

“It’s a very rugged area,” Capas said.

Overnight temperatures in the mountains were below freezing.

In the meantime, mayors from around the U.S. attending a conference in Washington blasted the federal government for “playing politics” with immigration and ignoring much-needed reform.

Image- Salon.com (“U.S. Border Patrol agent Sean King patrols a trail…cut by illegal immigrants in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument near Lukeville, Ariz.”)

Sources (English)- azstarnet.com, Sierra Vista Herald, Guardian UK

Sources (Spanish)- Milenio