Border Patrol agents rescued a illegal immigrant woman trying to bypass a checkpoint in Brooks County. She was found unconscious after being abandoned by human smugglers.
Agents from the Rio Grande Valley Sector assigned to the Falfurrias Station discovered a Honduran woman lying unconscious in one of the ranches used by coyotes to smuggle illegal immigrants around the checkpoint. The woman “had been left to die by human smugglers on Thursday,” according to a statement obtained by Breitbart Texas from Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Marlene Castro. These ranches are located about 80 miles north of the Texas/Mexico border.
The Border Patrol search team is part of a surge of agents in the area to help prevent the deaths of those who are preyed upon by human smugglers. “Coyotes” will routinely abandon their human cargo in the fields and leave them to die if they become injured during the dangerous march or for any other reason cannot keep up.
After realizing the rescue vehicles would not be able to reach their location, agents hiked out carrying the woman to an ambulance that had come in as far as it could. The terrain in these ranches is like soft beach sand. It is so soft that four wheel drive vehicles often get stuck and have to be pulled out or otherwise extricated.
Once the agents completed the journey to the ambulance, the woman was transported to Christus Spohn Hospital in Corpus Christi where she is recovering from exposure and dehydration.
“We are grateful to the help we receive from the Border Patrol agents and Texas Department of Public Safety,” Brooks County Chief Deputy Benny Martinez told Breitbart Texas on Friday. “The efforts by these agents have saved the lives of many who would have otherwise died a painful death.”
Despite the efforts of these agents and other law enforcement officials, the remains of 54 illegal immigrants have been found in the ranch fields this year.
“This is an increase over last year’s recoveries,” Martinez said.
“The numbers of immigrants and deaths has been overwhelming,” Martinez told Breitbart Texas on Monday. “But thanks to help from the state, the county is meeting the challenge of identifying and burying the bodies, for now.”
Border Patrol officials told Breitbart Texas in September they have seen an 88 percent increase this year in the number of rescues in the RGV Sector. Over the same period as in 2015, agents have rescued nearly 1,300 endangered illegal immigrants.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.