Thread: Illegal immigrants jump from moving SUV after traffic stop

Illegal immigrants jump from moving SUV after traffic stop
By Jonathon Shacat
Herald/Review

Published on Thursday, February 14, 2008

BISBEE — Border Patrol agents assigned to the Wilcox Station prevented a potentially fatal car accident involving six illegal immigrants along Interstate 10 near Benson on Tuesday morning.

Agents stopped a Chevrolet Suburban at about 7 a.m., according to a press release from Border Patrol. When an agent left his vehicle to approach the SUV, the driver accelerated and re-entered traffic and then he and a front-seat passenger jumped out of the moving vehicle and fled on foot.
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Being on foot, the agent was unable to catch the Chevrolet, so he returned to his service vehicle and used it to keep the SUV from colliding with other vehicles traveling on the road. He turned on his emergency lights and siren to warn other motorists. He also redirected the SUV to the shoulder.

Agents removed five men and one woman from the SUV. They were taken into custody by Border Patrol and were processed at the Wilcox Station. The group voluntarily returned to Mexico.

Jesus Rodriguez, public information officer for the Tucson sector of the Border Patrol, said officials tried to catch the driver, who is suspected of being a smuggler, and the front-seat passenger, but they got away.

“They were trying to stop that vehicle before it went into traffic, and that gave those guys enough time to get out of the area,â€

Good thinking on the border agent's part. This report once again points to the need of border patrol dogs with every agent. The dog would have gotten one who fled on foot while the agent chased the SUV.

"The United States shall guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legislature cannot be convened) against domestic violence." Article IV Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution.