Posted Dec 4, 2017, 4:35 pm
A helicopter crew with the Arizona Department of Public Safety airlifted an injured Guatemalan man from a remote mountainside near Arivaca after he was treated by Border Patrol agents on Sunday, authorities said.
The man "injured himself" while attempting to evade arrest by U.S. Border Patrol agents early Sunday morning, said a spokesman with Tucson Sector Border Patrol.
The man, who was identified only by his nationality, was traveling with 12 other people suspected of violating U.S. immigration law, in remote terrain about 48 miles southwest of Tucson, the spokesman said.
Agents with the Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue team, known as BORSTAR, stabilized the man's injuries and prepared him for aerial extraction, he said.
The DPS helicopter known as "Ranger 1" hoisted the man, and transported him to a waiting ambulance and he was taken to a Tucson hospital for treatment.
DPS has rescued at least three people from Guatemala after they were apprehended by Border Patrol in the last three weeks.
On Nov. 14, the same helicopter was used to rescue a Guatemalan man from a mountain west of Sells, Arizona, and the next day, the crew extricated a Guatemalan woman after she called 911.
The man was treated for his injuries and is "expected to make a full recovery," the spokesman said, adding that the man will remain in custody, along with the other 12 migrants, while he is processed for immigration violations.
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The announcement about the rescue was also published in Spanish, as part of a larger effort to discourage people in Mexico from crossing into the United States.
In both versions, the agency encouraged people in distress to call 911, or to activate a rescue beacon, before "becoming a casualty."
"Illegal entry into the U.S. is unsafe and those who take the risk put themselves in mortal danger," the agency said.
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