8 migrants rescued within 6 hours on Tuesday

The Air and Marine Operations (AMO), Yuma Air Branch assisted Border Patrol agents from the El Centro Sector rescue eight migrants Tuesday night who were lost in the Jacumba Wilderness region.

The first incident happened at about 5:11 p.m. when the El Centro Sector Dispatch Center notified agents working in the field about a migrant who became lost in the mountains after illegally entering the country, and was now out of food and water.

El Centro station’s Mountain Disrupt Unit (MDU) and a helicopter from the Yuma Air Branch responded to the area to assist in the search.

The Yuma Air Branch helicopter spotted the migrant at approximately 5:27 p.m. about one-half mile south of Interstate 8 near the In-Ko-Pah Park Road exit.

El Centro agents arrived on scene at about 5:45 p.m. and after determining that no medical assistance was needed, took the migrant into custody. He was then transported to the El Centro Sector Processing Center.

The second incident occurred at about 9:40 p.m. when two more migrants had also become lost in the mountains. El Centro agents and the Yuma Air Branch helicopter responded to the area to assist in the search.

At approximately 10:30 p.m. El Centro agents located the two adult male migrants, both of whom were Mexican nationals, about 10 miles north of the U.S./Mexico border, where they had entered the country illegally.

Agents conducted welfare checks on the migrants and determined that no medical attention was required. They were then taken into custody and transported to the El Centro Sector Processing Center.

The final rescue happened at about 9:50 p.m. when Calexico police notified the El Centro Dispatch that another group of five migrants were also lost in the mountains. Agents in the field were notified of the call.

El Centro Agents and the Yuma helicopter crew remained in the area to assist and began searching for the group of migrants using the last GPS coordinates provided.

The group of five migrants was located at approximately 11:15 p.m. several hundred feet from the U.S./Mexico border, where they had illegally entered the country.

They were taken into custody and transported to the El Centro Sector Processing Center after agents determined that they did not need medical attention.

All eight rescued undocumented individuals will be processed accordingly.

Since October, El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents have successfully rescued 164 individuals lost or in distress.