El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents carried out five separate rescues of migrants in distress in desert and wilderness areas near the Mexican border. The rescues led to the saving of two small children and 15 adults.
A woman from San Francisco called the El Centro Border Patrol Station Saturday morning shortly before 3 a.m. and said her brother-in-law and another person were lost in the desert near the Centinela State Prison, according to information obtained from El Centro Sector Border Patrol officials. Officials asked the woman to have the people call 911 so agents could access the GPS information.
Border Patrol agents received the GPS information and began a search and rescue operation. Approximately 45 minutes later, the agents found the two men. Agents determined the two men were in good health.
The agents transported the two men, identified as Mexican nationals, to a rally point where they were processed for expulsion under Title 42 Coronavirus protection protocols put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Border Patrol agents utilize rally points to process the migrants for expulsion to Mexico to avoid bringing them into contact with other agents and migrants who are being detained. Most migrants are expelled within two hours of being apprehended, U.S. Customs and Border Protection Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan told Breitbart Texas in a phone interview.
El Centro Sector dispatchers received information about seven hours later from the sector’s Foreign Operations Branch regarding a person in distress. Mexican authorities in Grupo Beta reported the person’s location to be in the mountains about 43 miles west of Calexico, California. Grupo Beta authorities said they found a person in the mountains south of the U.S.-Mexico border who reported being lost and without water for three days.
The lost migrant reported a traveling companion who continued on into the U.S. The man provided the location of the other migrant and an El Centro Station Mountain Disrupt Unit and a BORSTAR team responded to the area in the California mountains to begin a search operation.
Agents located the lost man about an hour and a half later and found he did not require medical attention. Agents transported the Mexican national to the rally point where they processed him for expulsion.
Saturday evening, dispatchers received information about a woman and two small children who became lost after being abandoned in the wilderness. Agents responded and began searching for the Guatemalan woman and her six- and eight-year-old children. Agents located the lost family and assessed them for medical treatment.
The agents transported the family to the highway where an American Medical Response ambulance awaited their arrival. The EMS crew determined the family did not need further medical treatment. The agents then transported the family to the rally point and processed them for removal under Title 42.
Late Sunday morning, California Highway Patrol Communications notified the El Centro Station about seven migrants who reported being lost and out of water. Border Patrol agents initiated a search and rescue operation.
Agents requested assistance from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations (AMO) aircrew assigned to the San Diego Air and Marine Branch who subsequently joined the search and located the seven lost migrants near their last known GPS location. The aircrew guided the ground-based agents to the location where they evaluated the migrants. The agents provided water and determined no further medical assistance was needed.
The agents transported the six adult males and one 16-year-old male, all Mexican nationals, to the rally point where they were screened and expelled under Title 42.
Finally, on Sunday night, dispatchers received information from the Imperial County Sheriff’s Office about a distress call from a group of four migrants who claimed to be lost and dehydrated. BORSTAR agents searched and found the four adult Mexican males. The agents provided water and evaluated the group. After determining no further medical attention was needed and transported the migrants to the rally point for processing and expulsion to Mexico.
Commissioner Morgan told Breitbart News that Border Patrol agents and AMO aircrews are on pace to exceed last year’s record number of rescues. This is despite a massive decrease in the number of migrants being apprehended after illegally crossing the Mexican border into the United States.
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 Face
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