A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations aircrew discovered an overcrowded boat loaded with approximately 240 migrants near the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. CBP officials say the boat was taking on water and in danger of sinking prior to a rescue operation.
Mexican authorities carried out a large-scale search for three days leading to the rescue of a group of 20 migrants. The group went missing while hiking through remote areas in their attempt to cross into Texas. One of the migrants, described as an underage female, died during the trek.
El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents and a CBP Air and Marine Operations helicopter aircrew teamed up to rescue five migrants in the Jacumba Wilderness region near the border in California.
El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents observed two migrants jumping out of a human smuggler’s vehicle during a pursuit near the border in California. The agents provided aid to the injured migrants and arrested the smuggler.
Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents found five unaccompanied migrant children along the Texas side of the Rio Grande. One of the children, a six-year-old boy, suffered an injury while crossing the river by himself.
A Del Rio Sector Border Patrol riverine unit rescued three migrants from the swiftly moving currents of the Rio Grande in dangerous conditions.
El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents rescued 13 migrants who became lost in the desert mountains after illegally crossing the border from Mexico. The 13 were returned to Mexico under Title 42 Coronavirus protection protocols.
The ongoing crisis along the U.S. border with Mexico is causing a substantial increase in the number of migrant rescues carried out by Border Patrol agents this year. More than 3,000 rescues have occurred in the current year–many in conditions that put the agents’ lives at risk in the process.
