Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents rescued an injured migrant woman after human smugglers abandoned her. Laredo Sector officials report a significant increase in the number of rescues this fiscal year despite an overall dramatic drop in illegal border crossings due to the Coronavirus.
During the morning of May 8, Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents conducted a search operation to locate a migrant woman who became lost after being abandoned by human smugglers. The woman needed medical attention for dehydration and a leg injury, according to information obtained from Laredo Sector Border Patrol officials.
The agents searched for the missing woman and located her about 20 minutes after initiating the operation, officials stated. The agents provided medical assistance for her dehydration and injured leg. Officials did not disclose the extent of her leg injury.
Breitbart Texas has observed incidents during border-area visits where human smugglers will abandon any migrant who becomes injured, weak from heat exhaustion or dehydration, ill, or for any other reason cannot keep up. Each year, hundreds of migrants die in South Texas due to abandonment.
The agents provided first aid to the woman and transported her to a local hospital, officials reported. The agents identified her as a Mexican national who had illegally crossed the border into the United States. Once medically cleared, the woman will likely be returned to Mexico under Coronavirus protection protocols.
In an interview in April, Laredo Sector Chief Patrol Agent Felix Chavez told Breitbart Texas that the sector is unique in that migrants crossing the border here are not looking to be apprehended like most others. He explained the lack of physical infrastructure makes it challenging for agents to maintain operational control of the area and dangerous for migrants crossing the border illegally.
“We are inches away from the heat of summer,” Chief Chavez explained. “Crossing the river here is very dangerous as the lake continues to release water creating deadly currents. The desert-like ranches in this sector are dangerous and present a great risk for injury or death to the migrants being smuggled around checkpoints. Then, add the dangers of COVID-19 on top of all of that.”
“We have carried out more than 1,400 rescues during this fiscal year (which began October 1, 2019),” he explained. “Illegal border crossings are down, deaths are down, but rescues are up.”
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.