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Customs
and Border Protection Air & Marine Operations Air & Marine
Operations (AMO) conducted two lifesaving rescues this week of five
individuals who entered the country illegally.
The
first rescue occurred on Tuesday at 5 p.m., after El Centro Sector
Border Patrol requested air service for a group of distressed
individuals in the remote mountainous area of Jacumba Wilderness Area
near El Centro, Calf. AMO launched a UH-60 Black Hawk crew from
Naval Air Station North Island.
The
UH-60 crew proceeded to the remote area of El Centro and located the
four distressed migrants who precariously ignited a small brush fire
as a signal of their location.
The
UH-60 crew landed and contacted the migrants. An onboard Air &
Marine Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) performed an initial
assessment of one of the individuals who was unresponsive and
appeared to be in advanced stages of heat stroke. The other three
migrants had succumbed to the elements and were provided hydration by
the crew. The UH-60 crew extinguished the small brush fire before it
spread.
The
aircrew coordinated with the El Centro Sector Border Patrol’s
Border Search Trauma and Rescue (BORSTAR) team to transport and turn
over the four migrants to them at a nearby access road. Three
migrants were turned over to the BORSTAR team and the unresponsive
migrants was flown to a Medical Center in Brawley, Calif., for
emergency services. All four individuals were Mexican national men
aged between 20 and 38-years-old.
The
second rescue occurred on Wednesday at approximately 9 a.m., after a
San Diego Air & Marine Branch UH-60 Black Hawk received a request
from a San Diego Sheriff Department helicopter for help in locating a
distressed migrant. The migrant could not be located due to adverse
weather and terrain.
At
around 9:45 a.m., the distressed migrant was located down a steep
ridgeline in a remote area on Otay Mountain via a phone patch between
the alien’s cell phone and the aircraft.
An
onboard BORSTAR agent was deployed via a one-wheel landing due to the
adverse terrain to assess the migrant’s condition. The distressed
man was dehydrated and had sustained multiple injuries as a result of
a fall. The man, a 41-year-old Mexican national, claimed to have
been in the mountains for five days and without food or water for the
last three days.
After
being rescued off the mountain, the dehydrated man was given fluids
and taken to a hospital for evaluation.
An
onboard Air & Marine EMT hastily administered fluids
intravenously to the man while the Black Hawk crew transported him to
the Brown Field airport to awaiting San Diego Sector Border Patrol
and local medical personnel. Agents took the migrant to a nearby
hospital for evaluation and treatment.
“It
is inherently dangerous to illegally cross the border,” said Hunter
Davis, Director of Air & Marine
Operations in San Diego. “Those dangers are heightened exponential
in mountainous and remote areas especially during inclement weather.”
U.S.
Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the
Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control
and protection of our nation's borders at and between official ports
of entry. CBP is charged with securing the borders of the United
States while enforcing hundreds of laws and facilitating lawful trade
and travel.
Press
Release Provided by the US Border Patrol
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