Border Patrol agents give gifts to immigrant children alone on Christmas

McALLEN, Texas – U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents helped make Christmas a little more special by giving gifts to immigrant children who were at the Centralized Processing Center on Friday.

The children were greeted by Santa Claus, who delivered the gifts and homemade treats that were baked by wives of agents.

"These children are thousands of miles from home, and most of them are essentially alone for the holidays as they came here without their parents or another family member,” said Chief Patrol Agent Manuel Padilla Jr. “Christmas is a tough time to be without your family, so management at the CPC got together and raised money to purchase gifts for the kids and help make Christmas better for them.”