Staggering 48,610 migrant children have crossed the border ALONE since October

A staggering 48,610 children without a legal guardian have crossed the US-Mexico border since the beginning of the fiscal year which began in October, the US Border Patrol revealed.

In that same period, 1.2 million people have crossed the US border illegally, statistics from US Customs and Border Protection show. 

In the El Paso Sector of the border, 5,800 unaccompanied children have been found near the international boundary, El Paso Border Patrol Chief Anthony Good tweeted Monday.

The shocking figure was posted alongside the photo of a young boy arriving on the border near El Paso, Texas in recent days.

In the image, a Border Patrol kneels with the boy with the vast desert surrounding them. 

'Traveling alone can be a scary and dangerous experience,' the social media post states. 

'The El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents are always prepared to encounter & aid this vulnerable population.' 

Since the border crisis began in 2021, there have several heartbreaking cases of little ones being smuggled across the border with nothing but a piece of paper to alert US authorities where their relatives in the can be found. 

Five children, ages 5 to 11, were found holding addresses in New York and Texas just last month near the Rio Grande in the Lone Star State. 

One little girl's note read 'Schenectady, Nueva York' and included a name. 

Another migrant boy clutched a ripped up scrap of paper with a Texas ZIP code scribbled on it.

The amount of children who have arrived at the southern border is on pace to surpass the 2022 tally-- when 158,865 little ones entered the country in a 12-month period, according to federal statistics.

Last year, saw the arrival of 145,474 unaccompanied minors-- defined by federal immigration authorities as any minor traveling with a legal guardian.

In some cases, the child is traveling with an aunt, uncle or other relative who does not qualify as a legal guardian, but in most cases, the minors are completely alone. 

Unaccompanied minors who reach the US’s southern border are not deported to their home countries, which sometimes is not known, since they can arrive without any kind of identification. 

They can only remain in law enforcement custody for up to 72 hours

The children are then placed into the care of the federal government with the Office of Refugee Resettlement until the child can be reunited with family in the US or sent back to their home country if there is no family in the US.

That US policy has resulted in a growing number of illegal immigrants posing as children in an effort to avoid deportation — with close to 700 juvenile imposters unmasked in El Paso, Texas in 2022, according to the feds.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement places the children in living facilities called Southwest Keys.

'Most of the youth in our care are between the ages of 13-17, often coming from Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador,' the Southwest Key website states.

There are 27 Southwest Key shelters shattered across the border, including 17 in Texas, two in California and eight in Arizona. 

'Our goal is to reunify unaccompanied minors with loved ones or sponsors as swiftly as possible while abiding by strict federal requirements required to ensure their safety,' the program shared. 

'The typical length of stay for minors in our shelters is 32 days or less.' 

While at a facility, the children receive medical care, schooling, religious services and counseling if needed.