More dead bodies of illegal immigrants are being found in Brooks County, Texas, as the summer heat begins to kick-in. This comes despite a 47 percent increase in the number of rescues successfully carried out by Border Patrol agents in the area.
The number of dead bodies recovered by the Brooks County Sheriff’s Office this year stands at twenty-seven – five from this month alone, according to information provided to Breitbart Texas by the Brooks County Sheriff’s Office.
Brooks County is located around the town of Falfurrias, about 80 miles north of the Texas border with Mexico. There is a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint located in the middle of the county on the only road leading from the border through this county. Human smugglers have been taking their “cargo” through the dangerous ranch lands in this county for years to avoid the checkpoint. When an illegal immigrant cannot keep up, or becomes injured walking in the soft sand of these ranches, they are left behind to die.
The Border Patrol and Brooks County sheriff’s deputies have been increasing their efforts for several years to try and reduce the number of deaths. Border Patrol agents report the number of successful rescues is up by forty-seven percent this year. Three people were rescued just last week in Brooks County and neighboring Kenedy County.
“The treatment of these illegal immigrants by their human smugglers is horrific,” Brooks County Sheriff-elect Benny Martinez told Breitbart Texas. “The people they take on these marches around the checkpoint are ill-prepared for the heat and hazardous terrain of these ranches. When they can’t keep up, they are left behind where they will die quickly if they don’t get help.”
The terrain Martinez spoke of is ground that is made up of sand that is so soft, 4-wheel drive vehicles frequently get stuck and have to be pulled out. It is easy to twist an ankle or knee and become too injured to keep up. The soft sand also makes one mile feel like three or four. People become exhausted and dehydrated very quickly.
When you add in the poisonous snakes, scorpions, cactus and thorny brush, you have a recipe for disaster, Martinez explained. In the coming months, temperatures will climb into the high 90s or even higher.
Just last week, Border Patrol agents found a Mexican illegal immigrant who had been abandoned and left to die. By the time the agents found him he was severely dehydrated and in need of medical attention, information provided to Breitbart Texas by the U.S. Border Patrol revealed. The agents gave the man water and first-aid treatment while extricating him from the ranch. He was transported by ambulance to a hospital for treatment.
Later that same day, agents found another illegal immigrant in Brooks County who had been abandoned by his smugglers. He was left in the 90 degree heat with no water. The agents gave him water, but he refused medical attention. He was taken into custody.
Agents working out of the Kingsville, Texas, station near Sarita rescued three more illegal immigrants, including a juvenile. They had all been left behind to die. The agents received a 911 call about the juvenile who was lost in the brush and needed medical attention. Agents located the juvenile and provided water and first-aid treatment. The juvenile was suffering from dehydration and stomach cramps. The illegal immigrant was transported to a local hospital for further treatment.
A second 911 call led to the rescue of two more illegal immigrants who were left behind by their smugglers.
A total of five rescues were carried out by these agents during a 24-hour period. The Border Patrol reports that rescues in this area during FY 2016 are up by forty-seven percent when compared to the same period during the previous year.
Breitbart Texas has reported extensively on the dangers of these marches through the “killing fields of Brooks County” and the numbers of deaths that have been found by sheriff’s deputies, ranchers and Border Patrol agents.
Just last week, Breitbart Texas’ Ildefonso Ortiz reported on the death of a Border Patrol rescue K-9 agent. The K-9 had been working on one of the Brooks County ranches in an effort to find other missing illegal immigrants. The dog began to show signs of heat exhaustion and was taken to a clinic for care. K-9 Agent “Lazer” died from his exposure to the heat.
Breitbart Texas reported in April about the abuses of the illegal aliens by their human smugglers. These abuses include not only the abandonment in the fields when they cannot keep up, but also include women being repeatedly raped, men being beaten and robbed, and other illegal immigrants being held for ransom in stash houses as the cartel smugglers try to extort more money from family members.
In May, three bodies were found over a weekend after having been abandoned by their smugglers, Breitbart Texas reported. “The abuse of these immigrants is hard to fathom,” Martinez told Breitbart Texas in May. “We have tried to make the most of our very limited resources to find them before something horrible happens to them.”
Bob Price serves as senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
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