A 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome was separated from her family while illegally entering the United States, Mexico’s Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray told The Wall Street Journal in a report published Tuesday.
Videgaray mentioned the “heartbreaking case” while calling for the Trump administration to end its “cruel and inhumane” immigration policies of separating families at the southern border.
According to Videgaray, the Mexican government has identified 21 Mexican children in recent weeks that have been separated from their parents, including the 10-year-old girl — whose father is reportedly a legal U.S. resident.
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Videgaray said the young girl was sent to a facility in McAllen, Texas, after her mother attempted to take the girl and her brother across the border. Her mother was reportedly sent to a facility in Brownsville, Texas.
“We are working to release the girl, so she can reunite with her father,” Videgaray told the Journal.
The Mexican official’s remarks come shortly after federal data was released Tuesday claiming Trump administration officials may have lost track of thousands more unaccompanied migrant children than previously reported.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officials told lawmakers last month that they were unable to account for 1,475 children who had been placed in the homes of sponsors.
But, after analyzing HHS data, McClatchy reported Tuesday that the actual number is likely closer to 6,000.