Four unaccompanied migrant children were rescued from a raft in the Rio Grande after being abandoned by a human smuggler, the U.S. Border Patrol said Tuesday.

Officers from the Rio Grande Valley Sector, stationed at Fort Brown in Brownsville, Texas, rescued the children.

Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez shared a photo on social media of border agents rescuing the children and called it “heroic.”

The children were discovered on a small inflatable raft adrift in the river that divides Texas and Mexico.

The unaccompanied migrant children were abandoned by a smuggler, according to the US Border Patrol.

Chavez said in a post on X, formerly Twitter: “Four unaccompanied children (UAC) were found abandoned on a raft in the Rio Grande River, abandoned by a human smuggler. Great response from our quick-thinking Border Patrol agents; These children are now safe!”

U.S. Customs and Border Protection data shows Border Patrol agents encountered 99,704 unaccompanied children in fiscal year 2024.

Chavez said that of all those children, more than 25,000, or about 25 percent, were found in the Rio Grande Valley.

Over the past three years, border agents in the Rio Grande Valley sector have encountered about half of the more than 425,000 unaccompanied migrant children who entered the country illegally.

Border security and immigration policy are key issues in the upcoming election due to record levels of illegal border crossings under the presidency. Joe Bidenadministration.

Former president Donald Trump has repeatedly pledged to carry out the largest mass deportation plans in history at nearly every campaign rally throughout the election cycle.

Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign, said News week that they will carry out “the largest operation to deport illegal criminals”.

“As President Trump has said, he will make provision for mixed-status families, and he will restore his effective immigration policies, implementing all-new enforcement measures that will send shock waves to all smugglers criminals of the world, and will mobilize all federal and state powers necessary to institute “This is the largest deportation operation of illegal criminals, drug traffickers and human traffickers in American history”, Leavitt said in an emailed statement.

“The only ‘plan’ Donald Trump has to secure our border is to rip mothers from their children,” the Harris campaign spokesperson said. Kevin Munoz once said News week.

Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren, who represents California’s 18th District, said previously Nnews week: “Trump is proposing to go in and rip the father out of this house and leave the mother and children alone. This is something all Americans should be concerned about.”