U.S. Border Patrol released the video showing a terrified little boy in tears, pleading for help after being abandoned by smugglers.
The boy was found near the Rio Grande river on the morning of April 1st.
According to Univision, an off-duty Border Patrol officer was on his way home when he stumbled upon the boy.
The boy asked the agent in Spanish, “can you help me?"
The agent then asks him, “what happened?”
The boy then sobs, saying “I was walking with a group and they left me behind, and I don't know where they're at.”
The agent says, “they left you behind by yourself?You're not traveling with your mom or dad or anybody?"
The crying boy says “nobody. I was with a group to turn myself in with you, and they left me behind and I came to look for help...I came looking because I didn't know where to go, and they can also kidnap me."
Univision reports that the boy apparently spent the night alone in the desert.
Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Chief Brian Hastings says they shared the video "to underscore the concern over the danger associated with the increase in unaccompanied children" crossing into the U.S.
Hastings says these kinds of incidents are becoming "commonplace," adding that children have been found on the riverbank with a phone number written on their on their garment, while others have been kicked out of rafts by smugglers.