Agents Respond to Illegal Migrants in Distress
U.S. Customs and Border Protection
EDINBURG (Press Release) – Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol Sector agents utilize assets, technology, and cooperate with partners to perform lifesaving efforts.
On Sunday, August 1, Kingsville Border Patrol Station agents were dispatched from the checkpoint to a rescue beacon activation in the ranchlands of Armstrong, Texas. Agents located the migrant, a Mexican national, who was showing signs of severe dehydration. A Border Patrol EMT assessed the migrant and advised he be transported to a hospital for further evaluation.
That same morning, agents working in Mission encountered a female migrant in the brush that claimed she injured her back and was unable to walk. A Border Patrol EMT evaluated the Salvadoran national and recommended she be transported to a hospital. Border Patrol agents carried the woman out of the thick brush to an ambulance.
Later that afternoon, MCS agents working in Havana encountered a female throwing up profusely and complaining of severe dehydration. The Honduran national was provided medical attention in the field by a Border Patrol EMT and then transported to a hospital for further medical attention.
On Saturday July 31, agents working in La Joya encountered a Guatemalan national in need of medical assistance. The man claimed his head injury resulted from a fall he had after illegally entering the United States the night before. A Border Patrol EMT treated the wound and referred the migrant to a hospital for further evaluation. At the hospital, the migrant tested positive for COVID-19.
On Friday July 30, McAllen Border Patrol Station agents working in La Joya encountered a 15-year-old Honduran national claiming his mother needed assistance coming out of the thick brush. With the assistance of a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter, the mother was located deep in the brush. The helicopter guided agents to the woman who was unable to walk on her own. Agents learned the female had suffered a stroke in the past and was only able to get as far as she did into the United States with the assistance of her son. Due to the overgrown brush, agents utilized a stretcher to carry out the female to the river where she was transported by a Border Patrol marine unit to a boat dock in Mission, Texas. The woman was provided medical assistance by awaiting Border Patrol Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT) on the boat dock.