Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents rescued two migrants who became lost on a Texas ranch 80 miles from the border with Mexico. In a separate incident, agents found the remains of a deceased migrant while patrolling the Rio Grande on foot.
Rio Grande City Station Border Patrol agents carrying out a foot patrol on the banks of the river that separates Texas and Mexico came across the remains of a migrant on Friday. The migrant died after illegally crossing the border from Mexico, according to information obtained from Rio Grande Valley Sector officials.
The agents notified the Rio Grande City Police Department who took custody of the remains and transported the decedent to a local funeral home.
The following day, Falfurrias Station agents received a call from the Brooks County Sheriff’s Office regarding a 911 call they received from two lost men. The dispatchers provided Border Patrol officials with the coordinates of the caller.
Border Patrol agents and deputies from Brooks County initiated a search and rescue operation on the ranch and located the two lost men, officials reported. A Border Patrol agent trained as an Emergency Medical Technician conducted a medical screening and treated both of the men for dehydration. One of the men required additional medical attention. The agents requested a local ambulance which provided transportation to a regional hospital for additional treatment and evaluation.
The agents identified the two men as Mexican nationals. Once medically cleared and a criminal background is completed, the two men will likely be removed to Mexico under Title 42 Coronavirus protection protocols put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Even with the spread of the COVID-19 virus, human smugglers continue to try these brazen attempts with zero regard for the lives they endanger nor to the health of the citizens of our great nation,” Rio Grande Valley Sector officials said in a written statement. “The U.S. Border Patrol agents of the Rio Grande Valley Sector will continue to safeguard the nation and community against these criminal elements.”
So far this year, at least 124 migrants died while or shortly after crossing the border from Mexico into the United States according to the International Organization for Migration’s Missing Migrant Project. While the number of deaths is slightly lower than the three previous years during the same period, the number of illegal border crossings is down significantly from those same periods.
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.