Border Patrol Agents Save Life of Migrant Abandoned by Smugglers, Recover 2 Bodies

Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley Sector saved the life of an illegal immigrant who human smugglers abandoned in Brooks County, Texas. Within days, agents recovered the remains of two other migrants who were not as fortunate.

Border Patrol agents assigned to the Falfurrias Station in Brooks County responded to an emergency beacon on April 22. The beacon is located on a ranch about 80 miles from the Texas border with Mexico. Agents found a migrant who had been abandoned by the cartel-connected smugglers who attempt to march them through dangerous conditions around the Falfurrias Checkpoint.

Agents provided emergency medical assistance to the migrant, according to information provided to Breitbart Texas by Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol officials.

“Smugglers do not feel any empathy for those who succumb to the Texas heat,” Chief Patrol Agent Manuel Padilla, Jr. said in a written statement. “While we have committed technology and resources toward our humanitarian efforts for life preservation, we highly caution immigrants who contemplate placing their lives in the hands of smugglers.”

The following day, Falfurrias Station agents responded to a much less fortunate migrant. The agents were conducting patrols on a ranch in an attempt to find the migrants before they can become endangered by being abandoned by the smugglers. The agents came across the human remains of a migrant who had been left to die in the field.

Brooks County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the scene with a local justice of the peace. The deputies recovered the remains. The remains will be transported to a medical examiner who will attempt to determine the identity of the deceased migrant.

Human smugglers, mostly connected to Mexican drug cartels, transport their “human cargo” from stash houses in the Rio Grande Valley to the southern part of Brooks County. The U.S. Border Patrol operates a checkpoint that is centrally located in the county. There are no other roads around the checkpoint so the smugglers drop their loads into the ranches and force march the migrants to roads in the northern half of the county.

“The more people that are pushed into the ranchlands with these human smugglers, the more deaths we are likely to have,” Brooks County Sheriff Benny Martinez told Breitbart Texas in an interview. “These smugglers just don’t care about the lives of these people. If they fall behind for any reason — these smugglers abandon them and leave them for dead.”

“We are fortunate to have the Border Patrol agents in our area to help prevent these needless deaths at the hands of smugglers,” Martinez said. “They work diligently to try and find the migrants before they are abandoned and they respond quickly when people call for help.”

Two days later, agents assigned to the Kingsville Station discovered another deceased migrant on a ranch near Armstrong, Texas, in Kenedy County. Sheriff’s deputies responded to the scene and recovered the remains.

“While the primary duty of our agents is to safeguard America’s borders, they are also working diligently to preserve life when the situations arise,” RGV Sector Chief Patrol Agent Padilla told Breitbart Texas in response to an inquiry. “Our message to immigrants who are determined to enter the United States illegally is to reconsider the dangerous decision of placing their lives in the hands of smugglers.”

Despite the efforts of Border Patrol agents in the Rio Grande Valley, 60 migrants have been found dead since October 1 because of the callous actions of cartel-connected human smugglers.