San Diego Sector Border Patrol agents rescued seven migrants from a drainage culvert after they illegally crossed the border from Mexico into California. The agents also found the body of a man who drowned in the culvert.
San Diego Sector agents patrolling the border east of the San Ysidro Port of Entry on January 29 discovered a man clinging to a closed grate inside a drainage culvert, according to information released this week by sector officials. The culvert filled with water due to debris clogging the grate.
The agents quickly worked to open the grate clogged with trash and other debris. As the grate came open, the water rushed out, ejecting the man and another migrant, officials reported.
Emergency crews from the San Diego and Chula Vista Fire Departments arrived and helped get ten Mexican nationals out of the cross-border drainage culvert. Agents reported two of the migrants as being non-responsive. Six others required rescue efforts.
Border Patrol agents successfully revived a non-responsive female migrant. The second non-responsive victim, a male, could not be revived and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Agents arranged transportation of the distressed migrants to a local hospital where they were treated and released for processing at a nearby Border Patrol station. They arranged transportation of the deceased man to the county coroner’s office.
As the agents provided first aid to the migrants, another 16 people rushed through the opened culvert. The agents identified three of these as Guatemalan nationals. The balance came over as Mexican nationals. All were declared illegally present in the United States. These 16 migrants were transported directly to the Border Patrol station for processing.
“While I am grateful for the life-saving efforts of our agents and partners, this serves as a grim reminder of the inherent dangers of crossing the border illegally,” San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Aaron Heitke said in a written statement. “As our agents provided life-saving measures to the first abandoned group, the smugglers callously directed a second group into the culvert in an attempt to overwhelm agents – who nonetheless, got the job done.”
Officials did not disclose if the migrants were expelled under Title 42 coronavirus protection protocols or if they were released into the general public.
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 Sunday-morning talk show, What’s Your Point? Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX, Parler @BobPrice, and Facebook.
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