By Matthew Holloway |
The compromised southern border of Arizona claimed another three lives on Wednesday according to the latest report from Customs and Border Patrol. Three illegal immigrants identified as Mexican nationals were found dead with surviving members of their group when an emergency rescue beacon was triggered near Sheep Peak, a bare desert mountain rising from the scorching Sonoran Desert floor on The Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range northwest of Ajo.
The surviving illegal immigrants informed ICE that four of their cohort were left behind, one was rescued, three perished in the heat.
According to the Border Patrol press release, “After agents were advised by surviving migrants of four others who had been left behind, and exhaustive air and ground search involving Ajo Station agents and air assets from the Yuma Air Branch was initiated. A second activation of the same Rescue Beacon led agents to a member of the missing migrants, they had been searching for.
The aircrew was able to locate the body of a Mexican male. Shortly after noon, agents located the bodies of the second and third migrant.”
The release noted that the Mexican consulate was notified and the bodies were taken to the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office for autopsy.
Fox59 reported that the deceased were two men, aged 44 and 18, and a 17-year-old girl. On Wednesday the high temperature in nearby Ajo, AZ was 102 degrees. In the remote areas of the desert west of Ajo, temperatures could well reach above 110 degrees and even up to 120 according to NOAA forecasting.
Tucson Sector Deputy Chief Patrol Agent Justin De La Torre said in a statement, “CBP’s message for anyone who is thinking of soliciting the services of smuggling organizations to enter the United States illegally along the Southern border is simple: don’t do it. As is evidenced by this case, when migrants cross the border illegally, they put their lives in peril. The terrain along the border is extreme, the relentless summer heat is severe, and remote areas where smugglers bring migrants is unforgiving. Far too many people who made the decision to place their lives into the hands of the criminal organizations have died of dehydration, and heat stroke.”
As reported by the Associated Press, Pima County authorities have already recorded eight heat-related deaths this year in the border county encompassing the Tucson Metro area and vast stretches of rural and desert land.
Data from CBP.gov shows that since 2018 the number of Rescue incidents in the Tucson Sector jumped from 574 in 2018 to 2,300 in 2022, an increase of just over 400%, the vast majority of which are heat-related. Data from 2023-24 is yet to be published.
Matthew Holloway is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow him on X for his latest stories, or email tips to Matthew@azfreenews.com.
