EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Rescue beacons placed in remote areas of Texas’ Big Bend region are saving the lives of migrants abandoned to their fate by smugglers. So are geo-location placards spread throughout its 510 miles of U.S.-Mexico border.
That’s what federal officials said after announcing a drop in migrant fatalities in the sector. Only six migrant fatalities were recorded and logged 79 rescues last fiscal year in an area of the U.S.-Mexico border where sometimes people can walk a full day after crossing the border before finding a highway or a town.
That was down from the 30-plus fatalities border agents encountered in FY 2023. Most of the deceased succumbed to oppressive summer heat or winter cold in the vast expanse.
The Big Bend Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol on Wednesday shared those numbers and put on a demonstration of how its special operations groups rescue stranded migrants.
The beacons, 24 in total, resemble small cell phone towers with a flashing light visible for miles. The hope is that a lost migrant, or in rare cases a lost hiker, will be drawn to the structure, read instructions in English or Spanish, and press a large red button to call for help.
The placards are metallic and about a foot long; they have a number that leads rescuers to specific coordinates after the person in trouble dials 911.
Border agents say most migrants who come across the border carry cell phones, unless smugglers have taken them away.
The drop in fatalities coincides with the proliferation of these two resources, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official said.
Wednesday’s demonstration near Marfa, Texas, included actors who played migrants attempting to help an injured peer.
A video of the demonstration shows the “migrants” dragging the unconscious man toward a beacon, pushing the button and then waving a Border Patrol vehicle that arrives at their location.
The injuries are severe. Border agents shield the migrant from the sun until a rescue team on a helicopter arrives and renders aid before airlifting him to a medical facility.
The demonstration was part of the sector’s annual Border Safety awareness event.
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