More than 100 unaccompanied kids found at US border: Texas official

(NewsNation) — Dozens of children were found alone this week at the U.S.-Mexico border, including a 10-year-old boy who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border on Thanksgiving Day and a 4-year-old girl from Honduras found by officials.

According to Texas Department of Public Safety Lt. Chris Olivarez, more than 100 unaccompanied children have encountered agents on the nation's southern border since Sunday, Nov. 24.

"I want the American people to see the impacts of this current border situation that we've been in for the last three-plus years and how it impacts unaccompanied children coming across that border," Olivarez told “NewsNation Prime."

According to Olivarez, the children they've encountered ranged from 2 to 17 years old.

The unnamed 4-year-old girl had a note with her when she encountered agents, with a phone number and first name. Her mother told Nexstar's NewsNation that she is already in the U.S. and that she left her child in the hands of criminal smugglers in Honduras and Mexico in hopes of being reunited.

“I found a coyote and I paid for them to bring her to me,” the woman said. “She came alone. It was just the coyote. The last time I talked to my daughter was Saturday, and I haven’t heard anything since they told me the coyote had already handed her over to another coyote, but I don’t know anything else about her.”

It's "all too common," Olivarez explained, adding that he fears the influx of unaccompanied minors will only get worse.

"It really shows the inner workings of how these criminals are operating, also how some of these family members, if they are family members in fact, how they even allow their child to make this long, precarious journey to the United States at the hands of criminals," he added.

Olivarez pointed to "whatever agreement" the Biden administration made with Mexico to get its border crossings numbers down, saying: "There is no safety mechanisms. There is no protocols in place to protect unaccompanied children."

The 4-year-old's mother told NewsNation that her daughter is still under U.S. immigration custody and it’s unclear if or when she will be released to her in South Carolina.

Last week, a federal appeals court ruled that Border Patrol agents cannot cut razor wire that Texas installed on the U.S.-Mexico border in the town of Eagle Pass, which has become the center of the state's aggressive measures to curb migrant crossings.

The decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is a victory for Texas in a long-running rift over immigration policy with the Biden administration, which has also sought to remove floating barriers installed on the Rio Grande.

The ruling comes ahead of President-elect Donald Trump returning to office and pledging a crackdown on immigration. Earlier this month, a Texas official offered a parcel of rural ranchland along the U.S.-Mexico border to use as a staging area for potential mass deportations.

Arrivals at the U.S.-Mexico border have dropped 40% from an all-time high last December.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.