Mexico finds 3 children alone on an island in the middle of a river on the US border

Three girls from El Salvador aged one, six and nine were found alone on an island in the middle of the Rio Grande, on the border of Mexico with the United States. The information was released this Wednesday (11) by the Mexican National Immigration Institute, which rescued the trio after an alert from the National Guard.

According to authorities, the children are sisters – the eldest was holding the youngest in her arms when she was found. The three are now under the responsibility of the National System for the Integral Development of the Family (SNDIF) in Mexico.

According to the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, diplomats from El Salvador are aware of what happened and are in dialogue with local authorities.

The Rio Grande is one of the last hurdles immigrants face before reaching the US mainland from Mexico, often after arduous journeys. Between October 2021 and September 2022, more than 2 million people were detained by US authorities at the border, an all-time record.

This Wednesday’s episode takes place days after a meeting between North American leaders that had immigration among its priority issues.

On the occasion, the Mexican president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, asked his American counterpart, Joe Biden, for more investment in countries that are the origin of the main migratory flows to the US. “President Biden, you hold the key to opening up and substantially improving relations between all countries on the American continent,” he said.

In response, the head of the White House said that the US “spent billions of dollars” over the past 15 years on investments made in countries in the Western Hemisphere and that the US government must respond to different demands around the world.

After the meeting, the White House said, without giving details, that Biden and AMLO discussed using “innovative approaches” to deal with the migration crisis.