On Friday, June 21, Douglas Station Horse Patrol Agents requested assistance from the Tucson Air Branch Black Hawk aircrew. The agents reported a group of migrants suffering from severe heat exhaustion requiring medical attention.
The rescue team included three members of Tucson Sector’s Border Patrol Search Trauma and Rescue (BORSTAR) Unit. The first patient encountered was unresponsive and seizing. AMO Rescue Specialists were deployed to clear a landing zone, allowing the patient to be loaded onto the aircraft and flown to an awaiting medical helicopter.
The second migrant, experiencing heat exhaustion and delirium, was airlifted to a Douglas Fire crew for medical attention. The third migrant, unable to walk, was hoisted into the aircraft along with an AMO Rescue Specialist and transported to Douglas Fire Department personnel for further care.
The rescue efforts continued on Sunday evening, June 23, when Douglas Station Horse Patrol Agents requested the Tucson Air Branch aircrew to the Peloncillo Mountain Range. Despite the challenging and steep terrain, the crew managed to find a suitable landing zone. The first patient was airlifted to an awaiting medical helicopter. The aircrew then returned to retrieve a second individual, who was transported by ground ambulance to a hospital in Sierra Vista. The Horse Patrol Unit then guided the remaining seven migrants to awaiting transportation for processing.
In May, Air and Marine Agents based out of Sierra Vista operating a drone identified a group of 29 undocumented migrants hiking through the desert along the Arizona/New Mexico state line. The agents coordinated with an Air and Marine Operations helicopter crew and Douglas Station Horse Patrol Agents to reach the location and apprehend the group.
In August, two agents from the Douglas Station Horse Unit were dispatched to a remote location approximately 15 miles northeast of Douglas after they were contacted by the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office. The Sheriff’s Office indicated – based on a 911 call they received – that a possible undocumented migrant was in distress. While searching the area, the agents located an adult male citizen of Mexico that was unconscious, breathing erratically, and appeared to be having seizures, and had a pulse.
The agents placed the man on his left side and provided supportive care by keeping the man's airway open. All aviation assets were grounded because of inclement weather, so agents requested that emergency medical services respond to mile marker 384 on State Highway 80 due to the rugged terrain. The agents also called for a spine board so they could transport the man by hand to a location accessible by vehicle. A Border Patrol agent emergency medical technician arrived at the location at approximately to provide further care while moving the man to meet EMS.
CPR was being performed on the man during transport to meet EMS and an automated external defibrillator was also used. Two agents boarded the Douglas Fire Department ambulance to continue assisting with CPR as the Fire Department ambulance transported the man to Copper Queen Hospital in Douglas. CPR was administered during the approximately 30-minute drive to the hospital and a second AED shock was delivered by the paramedic. The agents established hospital watch over the man and he was pronounced deceased at the ER.
According to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data, rescues on the southwest border surged nearly 600% between 2020 and 2023.
Agents assigned to the Tucson Sector Mobile Response Team apprehended a group of undocumented migrants in Baker Canyon near Douglas.
At the end of May, agents apprehended a group of five undocumented migrants that illegally crossed the border east of Douglas. One migrant was suffering from dehydration and an ankle injury requiring treatment at a local hospital.
Brian A. Terry Station agents and personnel from the Bisbee Fire Department provided aid to an injured Mexican citizen after she fell from the border barrier April 19. The 30-year-old female was flown to a Tucson hospital.
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