MARFA, Texas — The Big Bend Sector has had a good number of migrants needing to be rescued or dying at the border during extensive heat-related advisories in 2023.
United States Customs and Border Protection is warning those thinking of crossing the border to not put themselves in danger.
“Extreme heat has the potential to be deadly and kills more people than any other weather event,” Big Bend Sector Chief Patrol Agent Sean L. McGoffin said in a press release. “Please reconsider and do not cross the border illegally during these extreme heat conditions. It is simply not worth the risk of your life.”
In the fiscal year of 2022, the Big Bend Sector CBP made 408 rescues and had 27 deaths due to extreme heat. This fiscal year, there has been a decline in rescues and deaths, which acting Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Rush Carter praises.
“We are seeing a little bit of a decrease [in rescues and deaths], which is great,” Carter said in an interview with NewsWest 9. “A lot of that is due to some of those programs that we have going, with being able to get out there.”
The assistance programs in place for migrants at the border are rescue beacons and 911 placards.
When activating a beacon by pressing a red button, it sends out a geo location to the command center so an agent can rescue migrants in distress.
The rescue placard has a geo-location code the migrant can send via a 911 call and that will identify the migrant’s location and alert the border patrol.
CBP has recorded 16 beacon-activated rescues this year, and even though these programs are in place, border patrol officials don’t want migrants crossing the border illegally and having migrants rely on these programs.
Carter said that CBP sends out notifications to nearby Mexican residents through radios to tell them the weather conditions at the border.
“Down in the border towns we rely on the Mexican Consulate a lot to help us push the message out,” Carter said. “They also have radio campaigns [like] ‘avisa al migrante.' [It] is a campaign that will send out messages, especially now about the heat, ‘Hey it is not safe.' It comes back to CBP and the border patrol’s message, 'don’t cross it, it is very dangerous.'”
Most of the illegal border crossings that Carter has seen were organized through smugglers, and with immigration policies in place, migrants have paid the price.
Before Title 42 ended on May 11, the Big Bend Sector encountered 6,320 Title 42 expulsions in the 2023 fiscal year (October 2022 - present). Since Title 8 is still in effect, migrants are still taking the risk at the border and Big Bend CBP has reported 3,970 encounters.
Migrants who cross the border illegally, under Title 8, the first time get deported for a certain number of years, and if they are caught doing it again, they could see jail time.
“There are quite a few consequences with crossing the border illegally,” Carter said. “And not only [that but also] keep them from being eligible for programs in the future.”
Even though temperatures at the Big Bend Sector border are staying out of the 100-degree range this weekend and next week, it is still a high-risk situation going there.
