Undocumented Immigrants Rescued From Mud, Resident Pulled Out of Burning Car in Separate Incidents

El Paso, Texas – U.S. Border Patrol agents were busy the past 24 hours with two separate incidents involving rescues in the El Paso area.

At approximately 5:30 a.m. today, U.S. Border Patrol agents received a call from the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office requesting assistance on Socorro Road regarding a group of undocumented immigrants who were literally stuck in mud in a farm field in San Elizario.

Agents responded and discovered some subjects stuck in a heavily irrigated field and unable to extract themselves. Because of the extremely dense irrigated soil, agents were unable to reach them. A Fabens Border Patrol ATV unit was able to reach two of the subjects and rescue them from the mud. During this time, Fabens, Clint and San Elizario Fire Departments responded to the scene, along with the El Paso County Emergency District and extracted another female subject from the mud. She was later transported to Del Sol Medical Center for possible hypothermia.

The rescue of those immigrants who could not extract themselves from mud was extremely slow and difficult due to the challenging conditions of the field. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Fabens Station were able to track and apprehend four other subjects who are believed to also be part of this same group that entered the U.S. illegally in the San Elizario area. In total, five males and three females were apprehended. All of the immigrants were treated at the scene and two were taken to area hospitals for further medical evaluation.

Before this incident unfolded, a resident was pulled from a burning car on Mesa and 6th street on the city’s Westside at approximately 2 a.m. after a Border Patrol agent noticed the car on fire and found an unresponsive motorist. The agent had been traveling southbound on Mesa when he came upon the burning vehicle with the engine on and a man inside. He immediately tried to get the attention of the driver, who appeared to be unconscious. The agent opened the driver’s side door and pulled the man to safety before the vehicle became fully engulfed in flames. The El Paso Fire department arrived on the scene shortly after his rescue to extinguish the fire, followed by officers from the El Paso Police Department who took custody of the subject. The subject suffered no injuries in the incident.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.