- The brave boy Alan was in charge of taking care of his younger siblings during their trip to the border between the United States and Mexico.
- Before the children were handed over to traffickers, Alan said his mother, Adelfa, asked him to “take care of you and take care of your sisters.”
- They slept on the floor at night while curled up with a blanket.
Three Mexican migrant children who were abandoned by migrant smugglers at the southern border were reunited with their mother in New York City on Wednesday, the government of the east-central state of Puebla confirmed Thursday.
The reunion came days after nine-year-old Alan cried during a viral interview with Oscar Gómez News while describing the details of his trip to the Arizona border.
The brave boy was responsible for taking care of his younger siblings, six-year-old Ashley and three-year-old Yanis, during their trip to the US-Mexico border.
When asked about his parents’ whereabouts, Alan told the interviewer: “They are in the United States.”
Nine-year-old Alan revealed in a video released earlier this week how he cared for his two younger sisters, ages 3 and 6, as they were escorted by migrant smugglers before being abandoned at the southwestern border in Arizona. The children were reunited with their mother at a shelter for migrant children in New York City on Wednesday.
Alan said he slept with his sisters Yanis, 3, and Ashley, 6, on the floor and shared a blanket as they rested before arriving at the southwestern U.S. border in Arizona.
Before the children were handed over to the smugglers, Alan said his mother, Adelfa, asked him to “take care of yourself and your sisters.”
While he acknowledged that he wasn’t old enough to be in charge of his siblings, he did just that throughout the entire trip, which he said was “more or less” difficult.
They slept on the floor at night curled up with a blanket.
Alan indicated that he and his sisters simply ate “what the kids gave us” and that he could do “nothing” when his brothers asked to be fed.
When asked if he wanted to pass on a message to his mother in case she saw the video, Alan choked up and replied: “Nothing,” before confirming that he missed her and wanted to see her.
Alan recalled that he and his sisters barely ate what the boys provided them as they crossed from Mexico to Arizona, where they arrived last weekend. The children, all of Mexican nationality, were reunited with their mother on Wednesday with the help of a United States social organization and the Mexican government.
“I miss her, I love her,” Ashley said, when asked if she had anything for her mother. ‘She is my heart. She never broke it.
When asked if her mother broke her heart, the girl fought back tears and said it hurt her because ‘she left.’ My brothers didn’t see her when she left. But I did it, I cried. I felt tears.’
The Puebla state government said an American social worker, with assistance from the Poblano Migrant Assistance Institute, organized Wednesday’s moving gathering at a New York City migrant shelter for unaccompanied children.
Efforts are being made for the mother to regain full custody of her son and two daughters while they remain under the surveillance of the Cayuga Centers, which provide care for unaccompanied children for up to 30 days before they are released to a member of the family or their parents. .
According to the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), border agents have recorded 46,289 encounters with unaccompanied children since October 1, 2023, the beginning of fiscal year 2024.
CBP recorded 137,275 encounters with unaccompanied minors in fiscal year 2023 and 152,057 during the previous fiscal calendar. By comparison, 146,924 encounters were reported in fiscal year 2021.
