CARRIZO SPRINGS, Texas – In a recording played over a loudspeaker, a migrant from Honduras described feeling dizzy and having a headache.
A Border Patrol dispatcher asked the migrant to describe what he was wearing and where he was.
A man wearing a dark shirt and jeans jumped over a fence and headed into the brush.
While this scenario was just for show, Chief Patrol Agent Robert Danley with Border Patrol’s Del Rio sector said it happens often.
“These people that are crossing and find themselves in distress, they don’t know the area,” he said.
A few minutes later, agents responded with a K9 that tracked the migrant down by his scent.
The migrant was under a tree, lying down and unconscious.
In the field, agents -- which include trained EMTs and paramedics -- hooked the man up to an IV before loading him on a gurney.
This is what agents call a best-case scenario.
Since October 2023, agents in the Del Rio sector have rescued 203 people. 121 died trying to cross.
While it’s their job to help, Border Patrol agent Gonzalo Flores said the humanity of the situation isn’t lost on them.
“They’re exhausted; they’ve walked a very long distance,” he said. They’re putting their lives on the line, so it motivates us to go out there to find and locate them and give them the attention they deserve and need.”
“There are some Americans who say, you know, some of these migrants are crossing in illegally -- why is Border Patrol helping them? What would you tell them?” asked KSAT reporter Daniela Ibarra.
“So our, our motto is honor first,” he responded. “And I don’t think that you can be honorable without being able to take care of the people that you serve or you work around that you’re responsible for.”
While the scenario is difficult to watch, Danley hopes it helps save lives.
“Maybe it’ll help dissuade those folks from trying to do something illegal entry and put themselves in peril,” he said.
