Ocotillo, California - U.S. Border Patrol agents from El Centro Sector rescued 11 undocumented individuals in separate events over the weekend in the Jacumba Wilderness region.
The first incident occurred Friday afternoon at about 12 p.m., when El Centro Sector’s Foreign Operations Branch (FOB) received a message from the Government of Mexico (GOM) regarding an individual who illegally crossed into the United States and was now lost and in distress. The message provided the individual’s name, age, a description of his clothing worn and of the surrounding area he was at. The individual stated that he was tired, without water and could not walk anymore.
El Centro Station Dispatch notified agents working in the field of the call and the brief description of the area he was located at. Agents responded and began the lengthy search. Almost 48 hours later, at about 11 a.m. Sunday morning, agents located the lost individual, five miles north of the U.S./Mexico border.
Agents conducted a welfare check of the individual and determined that no medical attention was required.
The second incident occurred early Saturday morning at about 3:20 a.m., when Calexico Station received a call from the Calexico Police Department Dispatch regarding an individual who illegally crossed into the United States and was now lost and in distress near Ocotillo.
The individual provided his name, phone number, and a brief description of the surrounding area he was at. Several attempts were made to contact the individual vial cell phone to get GPS coordinates but was unsuccessful. El Centro Station Dispatch notified agents working in the field of the call and of the brief description of the area he was located at. Agents responded and began to search.
While conducting the search, agents responded to an activation from a rescue beacon located in the mountainous area. The rescue beacon provides the capability for a migrant to call for medical and rescue assistance along with an automatic location. At about 5 a.m., agents arrived and located the lost undocumented individual about 1.5 miles north of the U.S./ Mexico border. Agents conducted a welfare check of the individual and determined that no medical attention was required.
The third and fourth incident, both occurred on Sunday afternoon, when El Centro Sector Dispatch notified El Centro Station regarding a group of three individuals and a separate single individual, who illegally crossed into the United States and were now lost.
El Centro Station Dispatch notified agents working in the field of the call. Agents responded and began to search. At about 5:45 p.m., agents located the first group of three individuals, three miles north of the U.S./Mexico border. A few minutes later, at about 6 p.m., agents located the single individual a mile north of the U.S./Mexico border. Agents conducted welfare checks of the individuals and determined that no medical attention was required.
The fifth incident occurred early Monday morning, at about 3 a.m., when El Centro Sector Dispatch received another call from the Calexico Police Department Dispatch regarding a group of five individuals who illegally crossed into the United States and were now lost and in distress. Calexico Police Department Dispatch provided the last known GPS coordinates.
El Centro Station Dispatch notified agents working in the field of the call and of the last known GPS coordinates of the individuals. Agents responded and began to search. At about 6:20 a.m., agents located the group of five individuals a mile north of the U.S./Mexico border. Agents conducted welfare checks of the individuals and determined that no medical attention was required.
All undocumented individuals of each incident were taken into custody and transported to the El Centro Sector Processing Center.
All 11 individuals will be processed accordingly.
Since October, El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents have successfully rescued 267 individuals lost or in distress.
