Migrant Rescued After Being Lost for 5 Days in Texas Desert near Border

Border Patrol Search, Truama, and Rescue team agents provide emergency medical assistance
File Photo: U.S. Border Patrol/Big Bend Sector

Big Bend Sector Border Patrol agents carried out a 36-hour search operation leading to the rescue of a Mexican man who had been lost in the Texas desert for five days.

Presidio Station Border Patrol officials received a phone call on June 7 from a “concerned family member” who said they believed their relative illegally entered the United States from Mexico and had become lost, according to information obtained from Big Bend Sector Border Patrol officials.

Border Patrol agents from the Marfa and Presidio Stations initiated a search and rescue operation to attempt to locate the lost migrant. Early on the morning of June 9, Border Patrol agents located the missing man. The exhaustive search lasted 36 hours, officials reported.

Once locating the man, agents carried out an initial medical screening and determined the man was hungry but otherwise in good health. The agents identified the man as a Mexican national. Further questioning identified him as the man who had been reported missing by family members who requested the search.

The agents transported the man to the Marfa Border Patrol Station for further medical checks. The agents processed the man by utilizing a biometric background investigation that included a criminal background database check. Once cleared, Border Patrol agents processed the Mexican national for removal under Title 42 Coronavirus protocols put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Crossing the border in desert areas can be very dangerous as the heat of the summer approaches, Border Patrol officials previously stated.

“As temperatures climb in the West Texas desert, smugglers, unfortunately, continue to put the lives of migrants at risk,” Big Bend Sector Chief Patrol Agent Matthew J. Hudak said in a written statement.  “The combined efforts of agents from the Presidio and Marfa stations saved another life.  I am proud of the lifesaving work our agents do.”

The area patrolled by agents in this sector is extremely desolate. Big Bend Sector agents are responsible for 517 border miles. The Marfa Station’s area of responsibility covers 57 of those miles. Spread out mostly over vast ranches, the population of the entire Marfa Station’s responsibility is less than 5,000 people.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.

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