LUKEVILLE, Arizona — Members of the elite Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC) and the highly trained rescue unit (BORSTAR) have been deployed to assist in keeping the peace and providing much-needed medical care as hundreds of migrants brave the frigid desert temperatures near Lukeville, Arizona. The migrants are detained in the outdoor camp as they await transportation to a Border Patrol processing facility.
As Breitbart Texas watched, several members of the elite squads provided security near the Arizona border wall where nearly 1,000 migrants huddled closely on Saturday as temperatures approached the freezing mark. Some of the migrants have spent days waiting for scarce transportation resources and detention space at nearby Border Patrol facilities.
A round trip from the migrant camp to processing centers in Tucson or Phoenix takes approximately five hours per bus. Drug cartels are able to take advantage of Border Patrol resources being tied up with “babysitting” migrants at the camp to move other cargo across the border.
The migrants are left out in the cold to free up space and allow the agency to eventually take the migrants into custody formally.
The highly trained BORSTAR rescue operations group monitored the migrants for signs of hypothermia and other illnesses as the migrants lighted fires for warmth using garbage and branches collected from the Organ Pipe Monument National Reserve area. Removing branches is a federal offense in the park.
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Breitbart Texas observed the agents taking vital signs and providing basic first aid at the makeshift staging area at the foot of the border wall.
The crowd of migrants, although impatient, did not appear unruly despite the uncomfortable temperatures and lack of hygiene facilities at the rally point. Several members of the elite tactical group stood watch over the migrants from a host of countries as far away as Pakistan, the Middle East, the People’s Republic of China, Ecuador, and several West African nations.
Due to the remoteness of Lukeville and the demands of other migrant groups apprehended within the Tucson Sector, buses and vans arriving to transport the migrants away from the area were few and far between.
The increase in migrant crossings, some 17,500 during the last week of November, resulted in the deployment of the units and the planned closure of the Lukeville, Arizona, Port of Entry that leads into Sonoyta, Mexico. As reported by Breitbart Texas, the port of entry in Lukeville is one of two along the southwest border impacted by the surge in migrant crossings between ports of entry.
In Eagle Pass, Texas, one port of entry has already closed to allow personnel from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations to be re-assigned to help the Border Patrol with providing humanitarian care and migrant processing support to the thousands of migrants crossing daily.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, the Border Patrol apprehended nearly 190,000 migrants entering the United States illegally at the southern border in November. The Tucson Border Patrol Sector, which includes Lukeville and San Miguel, continues to lead the southwest border with the apprehension of nearly 119,000 migrant apprehensions during October and November.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.
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