U.S. Border Patrol agents found two deceased illegal aliens on ranches in Brooks County, Texas, on Thursday. A Justice of the Peace pronounced them dead after agents found them in the sand located about 80 miles north of the Texas border with Mexico. Officials transported the bodies to the Webb County Coroner’s Office.
Breitbart Texas reported extensively about the “Killing Fields of Brooks County,” and in January this writer reported that the body count for human smuggling victims in the county totaled 61 in 2016. This year, more than 30 bodies have been recovered in Brooks County alone.
This is part of a national problem where, despite the historic drop in illegal border crossings since President Donald Trump took office in January, more smuggled illegal aliens have died this year than at the same time in 2016, Breitbart Texas reported.
Sheriff Benny Martinez told Breitbart Texas “The Border Patrol checkpoint is located right in the middle of our county. There is no way to move through the county for these human smugglers other than to attempt to sneak their human cargo through the checkpoint or march them around the checkpoint and through the dangerous ranch lands in the county. This is where the deaths occur.”
The sheriff continued, “This happens because the human smugglers have no regard for human life. They will simply abandon anyone who cannot keep up with the group – leaving them to die from heat exhaustion, dehydration, or exposure to the elements.” Martinez said that the illegal aliens taken on marches are ill-prepared to handle what is required to get through the heat and hazardous border terrain. He said, “When they can’t keep up, they are left behind where they will die quickly if they don’t get help.”
The financial cost to Brooks County has been tremendous – the toll on county taxpayers reaches up to $2,000 a body for autopsies and disposal.
On Monday, agents assigned to the Rio Grande City Station found a body near La Grulla in Starr County, Texas. They found identification on the decomposing remains, but a statement from officials say it is unknown where the deceased came from. Officials transported the body to Laredo where an autopsy will be performed and billed to the tax base.
As continuously reported by Breitbart Texas, cartel-connected human smugglers leave those who lag behind and are injured to die in the smoldering Texas climate.
Most recently in June, Breitbart Texas reported that illegal aliens attempting to circumvent the Border Patrol checkpoint in Falfurrias, Texas, are dying in higher numbers because of this year’s heat wave. Brooks County officials reported that the number of dead bodies recovered this year is up over last year. During one week in June, agents found three in a single day. Brooks County Sheriff Martinez told Breitbart Texas he was very concerned about the potential death toll as they move into the hottest months of the year.
“We are at 24 [bodies recovered] so far, this year. This is well ahead of where we were this time last year, and we ended last year with 61,” the sheriff said.
Decaying bodies are found in other places, not just Texas borderlands. In late June, Breitbart Texas reported that two U.S. Border Patrol agents and Mexican government officials found the bodies of two illegal aliens in the Rio Grande River near Presidio.
On Friday, officials in the Brooks County Sheriff’s Office contacted the Border Patrol station in Falfurrias about a person who called 911 who had been lost for three days. The Border Patrol’s Search Trauma and Rescue Unit (BORSTAR) and an Air and Marine Operations (AMO) helicopter was dispatched to search for the caller and another subject who needed medical attention. The pair were found in distress and had to be transported to a nearby hospital.
On Saturday, U.S. Border Patrol agents in Kingsville were on patrol when they discovered a Guatemalan national who had suffered a snakebite. The illegal alien was trying to go around an inland checkpoint through the brush undetected and was bitten. He was airlifted, again at taxpayer expense, to a hospital for treatment.
On Wednesday, agents in Kingsville, Texas, in Kleberg County, found a subject who was wandering in the brush but declined medical assistance.
On Sunday, the Kenedy County Sheriff’s Office asked for assistance in responding to a 911 call about three individuals who were lost near Norias, Texas. Border Patrol agents in Kingsville found three subjects – two which ran from them, and a Salvadoran national who could not move because he had severe leg pain. The agents took the Salvadoran national to the hospital.
Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector continue the hard work of trying to save the lives of those who have put their trust in human traffickers–but the death toll this summer may exceed that of last year.
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 and Facebook.