The Department of Homeland Security responded Wednesday to a case of a child with Down Syndrome being separated from her mother, revealing that the mother was a key witness in a smuggling case.

“We had separated this child with Down Syndrome from her mother as a result of a smuggling attempt on June 3,” DHS spokeswoman Katie Waldman revealed in an interview on Breitbart News Daily on SiriusXM.

Waldman said that the girl’s mother was not a product of the DHS zero-tolerance enforcement at the border and was not being prosecuted. She also said that three of the children, who were U.S. citizens, were released to an aunt.

CNN reported on the case, citing Mexico’s Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray’s position on the story.

“The mother was not prosecuted, but is instead being held as a material witness to support the prosecution of the smuggler, which precipitated the separation of the two other children, both Mexican citizens,” Waldman said.

She added that the smuggler in question had a criminal history and needed to be prosecuted.

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