Border Patrol’s search-and-rescue record begs examination

Sunday, Feb. 14, 2021 | 2 a.m.

A new investigative report on deaths and disappearances of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border paints an alarming picture of the U.S. Border Patrol.

Based on reviews of nearly 2,200 recordings of 911 calls transferred to the Border Patrol, along with 224 emergency search-and-rescue cases reported to the agency in 2015 and 2016, the report concludes that border agents didn’t conduct a search in at least 40% of the cases and took limited action in many more.

The 122-page document was jointly produced by No More Deaths, a faith-based organization based in Tucson, Ariz., and the Coalición de Derechos Humanos, an organization that has provided humanitarian aid on the border since the 1990s.

Among the groups’ specific allegations:

• Agents didn’t respond or confirm any response to two-thirds of requests that volunteers at a hotline operated by the groups made for search-and-rescue operations, even though the volunteers provided substantive information about the person’s location.

• In nearly 25% of the cases analyzed, the Border Patrol hampered search-and-rescue efforts by families of migrants in distress and volunteer organizations. The authors accused agents of intimidation and withholding information.

• When the patrol did launch searches, the majority lasted less than a day, and some lasted less than an hour.

• In an examination of 911 calls involving U.S. citizens or foreign tourists lost in the desert, such as stranded hikers, the authors found that those calls almost unfailingly prompted searches that often lasted several days and involved sheriff’s departments, first responders and crews of volunteers. Those searches resulted in a nearly 100% success rate — meaning either the person or their remains were located.

The findings are highly disturbing considering that the Border Patrol is the primary responder for these emergencies, and sometimes is the only government agency to respond.

“When it comes to ‘emergency’ response to undocumented people crossing the border, Border Patrol’s search-and-rescue practices normalize human disappearance as an outcome,” the report reads.

Worse yet, the Border Patrol employs enforcement tactics that contribute to people getting lost in the unforgiving desert. Among them are “chase and scatter” operations in which agents use helicopters and ATVs to ambush groups of migrants, which cause people to scatter and lose touch with their guides. Meanwhile, decades-long federal immigration strategies to deter immigration through intimidation, such as hardening official points of entry, have resulted in migrants attempting to enter the country through isolated and dangerous territory.

For those who become separated, the consequences are often deadly. As described by one of the authors, Max Granger, in a column in the Western journalism publication High Country News, it’s possible to walk for days in the desert without seeing any signs of civilization except for a series of foot trails and debris left behind by those who traversed them.

“Thousands attempt the dangerous and difficult crossing each year, and every day, people suffer painful, sometimes life-threatening backcountry emergencies — crawling for miles with blistered feet and broken limbs, drinking urine or cattle sludge to stave off dehydration, calling their families as they die alone,” wrote Granger, a member of No More Deaths.

The situation is only worsening due to climate change. Last year, one of the hottest on record in Arizona, the remains of 227 people were recovered in the Border Patrol’s Tucson sector alone. Based on the report’s findings about the patrol’s searches, one would have to believe that’s a small percentage of the number who died.

U.S. Customers and Border Protection, which oversees the Border Patrol, hasn’t responded to the report’s allegations, but issued a statement saying it “remains committed to humanely securing” the border and “devotes the totality of its force to finding lost or injured individuals while also balancing the border security mission.” CBP says Border Patrol has rescued more than 8,500 people over the past five years while responding to more than 4,500 emergency calls.

But the report raises serious questions about the patrol’s culture and operations. National lawmakers should look into the allegations immediately

The good news is that President Joe Biden, on his first day in office, signed several executive orders and sent a bill to Congress to overturn some of the previous administration’s cruel immigration policies and establish a more humane way of treating those seeking a new life in the U.S.

But the revelation that cries for help are being ignored demands an urgent response.