2 migrants die in US hospitals after falling in desert areas near border
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — A migrant woman from Mexico died at an El Paso hospital after border agents encountered her and eight others in Sunland Park, New Mexico, near the border.
Agents in ATVs were conducting line watch duties when they encountered nine people at about 2 p.m. on Aug. 5., according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
As they walked, agents noticed that the woman was stumbling, showing signs of dehydration and appeared to be passing out, prompting them to call for a medic.
In the meantime, agents provided the woman with shade and water and placed ice packs on her torso.
About 20 minutes later, a Border Patrol EMT arrived only to find the woman unconscious, breathing laboriously and with an irregular pulse, according to CBP.
2 migrants found in medical distress die at El Paso hospital
The medic administered IV fluid before an EMS crew with the Sunland Park Fire Department arrived and took her to Las Palmas Medical Center in El Paso, Texas, where she was admitted into the intensive care unit under Border Patrol hospital watch.
CBP said the woman died the following day.
The El Paso Medical Examiner’s Office advised CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility that it would not conduct an autopsy.
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On Aug. 8, a migrant man from Mexico who fell severely ill in a remote desert area near the border died at an Arizona hospital, CBP announced Wednesday.
The Cochise County Sheriff’s Office contacted the U.S. Border Patrol’s Douglas Station after receiving a 911 call about a possible migrant in distress some 15 miles from the Raul H. Castro Port of Entry in Douglas, Ariz.
U.S. Border Patrol agents on horseback set out shortly after 8 p.m. and found the man unconscious about an hour later.
Agents immediately called for medical assistance and placed the man on his left side to try to keep his airway open.
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Agents found the man rugged terrain, but inclement weather prevented an aircrew from responding.
Instead, agents requested a spine board to carry the man to an area where a Border Patrol unit could drive and take him to the nearest highway to be handed over to EMS.
Crews performed CPR and twice used an automated external defibrillator on the way to Copper Queen Hospital in Douglas, Ariz., where the man died that evening.
The Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy on Aug. 10, though those results are pending.
CBP’s OPR is reviewing both incidents, and the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General also was notified.
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