Border Patrol

Agents rescue 3 illegal immigrants, find body in desert

Posted Jun 14, 2012

Janet Rose Jackman
TucsonSentinel.com

nebarnix/FlickrEmpty water bottles found in the desert in an area traveled by illegal immigrants.

Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents rescued three illegal immigrants suffering from severe dehydration and found one person dead in the desert since Tuesday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Thursday.

A CBP Air and Marine helicopter crew found a man in distress west of Green Valley on Tuesday afternoon. A Border Patrol agent, who is a certified EMT, helped the man with intravenous fluids and he was evacuated by ambulance to an area hospital for treatment, the Border Patrol said.

On Wednesday evening, an Air and Marine helicopter crew found two illegal immigrants in a remote area near Douglas who also were suffering from dehydration. The man was in such poor condition that he had to be transported to an area hospital for treatment, the Border Patrol said.

Early Tuesday morning, a Casa Grande Station agent found a man's body in the desert near Topawa on the Tohono O'odham Reservation. The investigation was turned over to the Tohono O'odham Police Department, the Border Patrol said.

Tucson Sector agents rescued 61 illegal immigrants during the month of May, compared with 38 rescues in the same period in 2011. Nineteen bodies were found in the desert in May, while five were found in May 2011, the Border Patrol said.

While the Border Patrol provides rapid response to those in distress with BORSTAR and EMT-trained agents, the agency said those attempting to enter the U.S. across remote areas of the desert face a perilous journey with high summer temperatures and lack of water.