Consulate: Children crossing border has tripled


By Jackie Diaz
Tuesday, September 23, 2008 at 1:15 p.m.

Thousands of children cross the U.S./Mexico border every year to reunite with their parents or family members living in the United States.

Miriam Medel with the Mexican Consulate in McAllen reports that Border Patrol officials have detained and deported 1,250 children through June 2008.

She said that's more than triple the number of children deported back to Mexico in 2001.

Medel told Action 4 News that the consulate is concerned because these children are put in very dangerous situations.

"In some cases they make it but in many cases they don't and the best case scenario for these kids is that the Border Patrol gets them and they call us and we can return them back to Mexico," she said.

That may just be the best thing for the children, she said.

Medel said coyotes or human smugglers also prey on children who try to cross the border.

For those who try traveling alone or with siblings, the terrain alone can pose deadly consequences.

"We have seen some cases where kids are as young as a few months,â€