Tue Jun 4, 2019 AT 10:22 AM EDT
Border Patrol was criticized for not better publicizing its rescue of two disabled migrants left for dead in the Rio Grande River, one of the most humanitarian recoveries made by the agency in recent time.
Agents with the Border Patrol Sector Search, Trauma, and Rescue (BORSTAR) team witnessed a group of 12 illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday near the town of Eagle Pass, Texas. As the migrant group approached the river bank, smugglers dumped a handicapped individual, a double amputee missing one leg and one arm, into the water. Agents witnessed the individual immediately struggle to stay afloat in the river.
The BORSTAR team responded instantly, swimming out into the Rio Grande and saving the drowning victim before it was too late. Just as the agents were able to pull the person safely to the river bank, the migrant smugglers were reportedly seen throwing another disabled person — this time a paraplegic man— into the same area of the river. Read Full Story