Nearly 30 illegal aliens were rescued in southern Arizona this past weekend, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced in a press release. Border Patrol agents continue to risk their lives to rescue illegal aliens amid the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic.
The coronavirus has been exploding in Mexico, and hundreds of border patrol agents have been placed in quarantine after coming into contact with infected migrants. Acting CBP Commissioner Mark A. Morgan said at a news conference this past week that 10 CBP officers have now died as a result of contracting COVID-19. There is growing evidence to suggest that border crossings are playing a significant role in the surge of coronavirus cases in border states like Arizona and Texas.
Despite the risk to their lives, Border Patrol agents continue to rescue illegal aliens, who often become lost and in need of assistance after their human smugglers abandon them in remote areas. In Arizona this past weekend, agents responded to dozens of 911 calls from illegal aliens in need of emergency rescue.
(Via CBP)
Beginning Friday afternoon, Tucson Sector agents were routed or received numerous telephone calls from illegal border crossers claiming to be lost or in need of help in the desert. Many calls were from rugged, desolate mountain areas devoid of paved roads within the Tohono O’odham Indian Reservation. Five of the rescue calls were from groups presumably abandoned by a human smuggler.
One Guatemalan woman also called 911 after she was abandoned by her smuggler without food or water in Cochise County. Agents, along with Cochise County Sheriff’s deputies, searched for the lost woman after she provided her location via telephone. Deputies ultimately located the uninjured woman along a remote train track and transferred her to Border Patrol for processing.
All persons rescued will be processed and expelled or removed once they are found fit for travel.
The White House is reportedly considering a plan to block U.S. citizens and residents from entering the United States in an effort to slow the surge of coronavirus cases in the southern United States. Nearly a million more people crossed the southern border in May than the month prior, accounting for some 3,359,795 border crossings at the five largest ports of entry along the southern border. You can add to that already staggering figure an untold number of illegal aliens.
While the president's existing border closure prohibits inbound pedestrians from traveling for certain reasons, like gambling and sightseeing, the closure does not prevent inbound pedestrians from traveling to the United States for the purpose of seeking medical treatment.