Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents teamed up with CBP Air and Marine Operations agents in a helicopter to rescue a migrant woman found in distress. The rescue took place in the Huachuca Mountains near the Arizona border with Mexico.
AMO officials tweeted a photo of the rescue showing the aircrew members hoisting the migrant woman from the mountain. Border Patrol agents found the woman in a semi-conscious state after she was exposed to the elements.
RESCUED! Tucson-based UH-60 & National Air Security Operations Center H125 crews partnered with #USBP agents to rescue an immobile, semi-conscious undocumented migrant in the rugged Huachuca Mountains. AMO agents hoist extracted & transferred the woman to a medical facility. pic.twitter.com/tyaQAJRe1l
— CBP AMO (@CBPAMO) April 21, 2023
Once onboard, the aircrew transported the woman to a medical facility for further treatment and evaluation.
The dramatic rescue illustrates the dangers faced by the migrants who are led by cartel-connected human smugglers into the desert region. With temperatures approaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit (nearly 38 degrees Celsius) Tucson Sector Border Patrol officials issued a warning to the migrant groups crossing the border in increasing numbers.
Ajo Station agents patrol a large portion of southern AZ. The area is rural and the temperatures extreme. When crossing NW of Lukeville, AZ, migrants are in extreme danger. Attempting to traverse the desert can take several days and cell service is limited. Do not risk your life. pic.twitter.com/iwwmts2B4U
— John R. Modlin (@USBPChiefTCA) April 18, 2023
The video warns of the extreme remoteness and distances migrants face as they attempt their trans-desert trek.
Migrants crossing near Lukeville, Arizona, for instance, face a five-day foot march through rugged terrain to make the 101-mile (162KM) crossing to Interstate 8. The trip from the border to Casa Grande would take approximately six days for the 132-mile (32KM) journey.
The video also includes headlines from articles detailing the record number of migrant deaths in the region. “As temperatures rise, crossing into the U.S. will become even more deadly,” the video warns. “Crossing the border means risking your life.”
The warning comes as the Tucson Sector climbed the rankings to become the second-busiest of the nine southwest Border Patrol sectors. In March, Tucson Sector agents apprehended nearly 34,000 migrants who crossed the border between ports of entry. This is up nearly 25 percent from the previous year and is second behind the El Paso Sector which reported nearly 40,000 apprehensions in March.
Perhaps most disturbingly, as temperatures rise, the sector’s March report reveals a nearly 505 percent increase in the number of family unit migrants apprehended crossing the border.
In addition to the nearly 34,000 migrant apprehensions reported in March, another 16,000 migrants are reported as known got aways, according to an unofficial Border Patrol report reviewed by Breitbart Texas. These are an estimated number of migrants who are detected crossing the border but are not apprehended by agents. This brings the number of known border crossers in the Tucson Sector to approximately 50,000.
So far this fiscal year, which began on October 1, 2022, Tucson Sector agents apprehended 146,301 migrants (up 19 percent from the same period last year). Migrant got-aways for the six-month period reached more than 96,000 bringing the total known border crossers for the sector to more than 242,000 migrants.
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.