Five illegal Guatemalan migrants were arrested for neglecting a child after a one-year-old boy was discovered wandering alone in the middle of a busy road in Florida.
Ofelia Chaves, 20, Emerson Edilberto, 21, Estiven Hidalgo, 24, Edwin Carajal, 26, and Dais Hernandez, 23, are being held without bail after the child was discovered on the 800 block of Southwest Darwin Boulevard in Port St. Lucie.
Sgt. Dominick Mesiti of Port St. Lucie police told WPTV News that vehicles had to swerve around to avoid the child on the road.
‘Thank God he wasn’t hit by a car,’ he said. ‘Thank goodness he didn’t wander into a waterway, as there are many in that part of the city.’
The arrests occurred around 2:20pm Friday afternoon, after police responded to calls about a toddler walking in the middle of the road.
When officers arrived, they took the boy off the street before locating his home in the 500 block of Southwest Sara Boulevard.
When officers arrived at the home, they were greeted by Chavez, her partner Edilberto, and his brother Hidalgo. A four-month-old baby girl was also in the house.
According to preliminary findings, Chavez was feeding the baby girl in a bedroom at the time, while Edilberto and Hidalgo were supposed to be watching over the one-year-old in another room.
Investigators believe the child escaped the house via a sliding glass door that was left open while one of the adults grilled on the back porch.
It’s unclear how long the child was by himself.
When officers arrived at the house, they discovered no electricity and a rotten foot in the refrigerator.
‘All the food in the refrigerator and freezer had started to spoil,’ Mesiti explained. ‘The food in the freezer had thawed out, and the meats and other items were thawed out and bleeding.
Additionally, there was no bedding or furniture in the house. It appeared that the children slept on a mattress on the floor.
Mesiti told the outlet, “There was clothing everywhere on the floor.” ‘It was difficult to tell if there was a mattress or not.
During the investigation, a seven-year-old boy who also lived at the house was dropped off by a neighbor who claimed to take the child to and from school, NBC Miami reported.
Carbajal and Hernandez returned to the home just as the third child was dropped off.
According to police, the two-bedroom townhome housed eight people, including five adults and three children.
Isabel Goldberg, a neighbor, told WPTV that she was devastated after learning about the children’s living conditions.
‘The poor baby, perhaps he was disoriented or hungry,’ Goldberg explained. That broke my heart.
All three children living at the house were transported to a nearby hospital, with some exhibiting signs of dehydration and lethargy. None of the children showed any signs of physical abuse.
The children, who were born in the United States when the parents first moved to Arizona, are now in the custody of the Department of Children and Families.
‘It was clear that they couldn’t afford to keep the electricity on, furnish the house, and feed the children,’ Mesiti told WPBF News.
The arrests have been reported to federal authorities, and the adults are awaiting transfer to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
On Tuesday, six more illegal Guatemalan migrants were apprehended in neighboring Martin County, all with lengthy criminal records that include battery, child abuse, fraud, and DWI, according to WPTV.
Local authorities are now preparing for a potential migrant influx, particularly at the maritime border.
‘Florida sheriffs have been advised that there are approximately 1,500 bed spaces in federal detention facilities,’ Martin County Sheriff John Budensiek stated on Friday.
‘It is possible that the beds will fill quickly.’
‘As drug trafficking is hopefully halted on the Mexican border, they’ll try to reroute back into the East Coast,’ he said.
The department has since converted its marine units into federal agents in preparation.
‘It gives them federal jurisdiction to go up to 26 miles offshore to help Homeland Security, Border Patrol, and the Coast Guard combat illegal immigration and drug smuggling,’ he explained.
The department has also requested that at least ten deputies obtain Homeland Security Investigations certifications, which will allow them to place federal holds on illegal migrants in the county jail.
Budensiek also stated that he is prepared to increase the jail’s staff if necessary.
Both Florida arrests come amid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
A senior White House official told DailyMail.com that since Trump took office, ICE has deported nearly 6,000 illegal migrants.
Since Trump took office, there have been an average of 370-400 deportations per day.
ICE deported 512 illegal immigrants on Monday alone, according to federal data obtained by DailyMail.com.
ICE arrested 715 people on Monday for outstanding immigration violations.
Of these migrants, 73% had known criminal convictions or pending charges, which included homicide, sexual crimes against minors, and drug trafficking.
Since Trump’s inauguration, nearly 9,000 immigration violators have been arrested, with many having multiple convictions or charges, according to the official.
‘President Trump’s administration is keeping his promise to arrest and deport criminal illegal immigrants,’ a senior White House official texted DailyMail.com.
‘There is more to come. This is only the beginning.’
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump praised the crackdown on criminal migrants.
‘Given the volume of crime and the severity of the crimes, these people are horrible people, and anyone who thinks they’ll be wonderful citizens someday is mistaken. It’s not going to happen,’ Trump declared.
‘If I can get them out of the country and into another country where they’re glad to have them because they make a small fee compared to what we’ve paid to a private prison, or put them in one of our prisons, which would cost even more money, I think it would be fantastic,’ he added.
“I would love to get them the hell out of our country.”
