Border Patrol Agents Save Migrant from Deadly Exposure in Texas

Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents rescued a Honduran migrant after he nearly died from dehydration after illegally crossing the Rio Grande.

Agents assigned to the Eagle Pass South Station began tracking a group of illegal immigrants who crossed from Mexico into Texas on June 6. The agents eventually came upon a 24-year-old man lying on the ground. The agents determined the man to be suffering from dehydration and immediately summoned Border Search, Trauma, and Rescue (BORSTAR) agents who were working nearby, according to information obtained from Del Rio Sector Border Patrol officials.

The BORSTAR agents arrived on the scene and immediately began treating the man for heat-related injuries. The BORSTAR agents stabilized the man who would have likely died had the agents not found him. The agents litter-carried the man for a quarter-mile through the brush where they met up with a local ambulance. The ambulance crew transported the man, identified as a Honduran national with no legal authorization to be in the U.S., to a nearby hospital for “more advanced treatment.”

“The majority of people attempting to illegally enter this country are ill-prepared for the treacherous terrain they face,” Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul L. Ortiz said in a written statement. “Had our agents not been out patrolling the remote areas of our border, this man would have most likely died from exposure.”

U.S. Border Patrol Chief of Law Enforcement Operations Brian Hastings told reporters during a press call on Wednesday that the number of rescues of migrants is increasing dramatically this year.

“So far this fiscal year, the men and women of the Border Patrol have done over 3,000 rescues,” Hastings told the reporters. “We’ve seen a massive increase in the amount of water-related rescues that are taking place — primarily in Del Rio, RGV, and Laredo’s areas of operation.”

“Water-related rescues alone have gone up 907 percent this fiscal year,” the chief explained. “They’ve (the rescues) have gone from 51 in Fiscal Year 18 to 514 during Fiscal Year 19. That means, a lot of times, risking their lives to save the lives of others.”