http://www.demingheadlight.com/news/ci_4390625

Six people saved in desert rescue Friday
By Kevin Buey Headlight Staff


The rescue of a woman in her seventh month of pregnancy among a group of six illegal immigrants was made Friday by agents of the Deming U.S. Border Patrol Station and members of the El Paso Sector Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue team.

The rescue was made at 8:15 a.m., about 17 miles northeast of Columbus, capping a night and morning search by agents responding to a distress call forwarded Thursday evening by Luna County's Dispatch Center.

"The individual on the phone," the USBP reported in a news release Friday afternoon, "claimed the group was abandoned by a smuggler who was attempting to bring them into the United States through a remote region between Columbus and Deming. She further stated that they were lost and in need of medical assistance."

Customs and Border Protection responded by dispatching BORSTAR members and agents on all-terrain vehicles, while mobilizing CBP Air Operations. A phone call came shortly after that said the group included a pregnant woman in medical distress due to severe dehydration.

"At approximately 8:15 a.m., Friday," the Patrtol reported, "BORSTAR agents located the group in a desolate region approximately 17 miles northeast of Columbus. The group of five males and the pregnant female were severely fatigued, disorientated and dehydrated, and given immediate medical attention after their rescue."

None required hospitalization, said USBP Spokesman Doug Mosier, in El Paso.

The Mexican Consulate was contacted in El Paso and the six were processed by the USBP for return to Mexico, with special notice that the group included a pregnant woman.

"It is common for smugglers, or coyotes," officials said, "to utilize this remote corridor in Southern New Mexico to transport migrants for profit. In response to the callous practice of abandoning migrants, the BORSTAR Unit was formulated to provide search and rescue capability to those individuals lost or left to die in the desert. For fiscal year 2006, there have been 499 persons rescued by Border Patrol agents in the El Paso Sector."

Customs and Border Protection is the agency within Homeland Security responsible for management, control and protection of U.S. borders. Its charge is to prevent terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the country as it also enforces applicable laws.


Kevin Buey can be reached at kbuey@demingheadlight.com.