Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents rescued seven migrants in separate incidents in the Arizona desert and mountains over the past several days. Several required immediate medical attention and hospitalization due to the heat and lack of water.
Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents working in an area of southwest Arizona on Friday morning observed smoke coming from what appeared to be a signal fire in the desert. Agents responded to the area and found two illegal immigrants in distress, according to information obtained from Yuma Sector Border Patrol officials.
The agents interviewed the subjects and determined they were the migrants who had called 911 for assistance. The agents determined the subjects were in need of immediate medical attention. They provided intravenous fluids and the migrants responded to the treatment.
The agents transported the two migrants to the Welton Station for processing and removal to Mexico.
On Thursday, Welton Station agents received a 911 call from a migrant who became distressed while crossing the desert in the heat of the afternoon. Border Patrol officials requested assistance from an Arizona National Guard helicopter aircrew.
The search lasted until about 11:20 p.m. when the aircrew located two people in the area believed to be the source of the 911 call. Officials determined one of the subjects to be in “severe distress.” The National Guard aircrew airlifted the migrant to Gila Bend where a waiting Care Flight helicopter took over and transported the migrant to a regional hospital.
During a search of the area, the aircrew found two additional migrants who were lost in the same area. Border Patrol agents from the Ajo Station transported those two and the remaining migrant from the first pair to the station for processing.
One day earlier, a Yuma Sector Border, Search, Trauma, and Rescue (BORSTAR) agent rescued another migrant with the assistance of two helicopters from CBP Air and Marine Operations and one from the Arizona National Guard.
Welton Station agents received notification on Wednesday evening that an illegal immigrants in distress made a 911 call from an emergency phone and requested assistance. The three helicopter aircrews began a search of the area of the Bryan Mountains about 20 miles west of Ajo, Arizona. The migrant managed to start a signal fire that one of the AMO helicopter crews observed. The AMO aircrew directed in a ground-based BORSTAR agent to took the man into custody. The agent identified the man as a 33-year-old Mexican national.
In total, Yuma Sector agents rescued seven migrants who would have otherwise likely died.
Under Title 42 Coronavirus protection protocols put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all seven are likely to be removed to Mexico after clearing a medical screening and passing a criminal background investigation.
The Arizona National Guard continues to support the mission of U.S. Border Patrol agents during a very dangerous period along the Arizona border.
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.