Global Courant 2023-05-02 08:24:15
A young Guatemalan migrant managed to alert Border Patrol agents via 911 that he was lost in the immense Arizona desert, where extreme temperatures put the lives of anyone exposed to them at risk.
John R. Modlin, chief of the Tucson Sector Patrol, Arizona, posted on his Twitter account a video of the moment in which the young Guatemalan is brought to safety and taken by helicopter to a safe area.
“In the mountains west of I-19, officers from the Nogales Station responded to a 911 call and located a 21-year-old Guatemalan citizen in distress,” the publication describes.
It adds that “following treatment by an EMT agent, BORSTAR lifted the migrant to safety with the help of @Arizona_DPS #SavingLives.”
The video shows how the border agent secures the migrant’s body and then signals the helicopter pilot to take them to the aircraft.
At the moment the identity of the Guatemalan has not been revealed. Nor is it known what immigration status he would be in.
The area where the young Guatemalan was located is used by human traffickers for the passage of migrants from Mexico to the United States.
The Border Patrol authorities have informed that this season of the year the temperatures in the Arizona desert are extreme, since during the day the heat is suffocating and at night the cold can cause hypothermia, for which they call to avoid undertaking that dangerous journey.
4/23: In mountains west of I-19, Nogales Station agents responded to a 911 call and located a 21-year-old Guatemalan citizen in distress. Following treatment from an EMT agent, BORSTAR hoisted the migrant to safety with assistance from @Arizona_DPS. #SavingLives pic.twitter.com/HkvoRScIzL
— John R Modlin (@USBPChiefTCA) May 1, 2023
New measures
The United States will open centers in Colombia and Guatemala to pre-select migrants who will be able to enter the country as soon as a rule is lifted in May that allows the expulsion of many of those who cross the border with Mexico.
The government of President Joe Biden fears that the number of asylum seekers will skyrocket when a health regulation known as Title 42 is lifted on May 11, which allows the vast majority of those who arrive at the border without a visa or Documentation required to enter.
It is a very sensitive issue for the Democratic president, especially now that he is a candidate for re-election in the 2024 presidential elections, in which he could fight an electoral duel with his predecessor, the Republican Donald Trump.
The latter and the Republicans in general accuse Biden of failing to manage what they describe as an “immigration crisis” on the border with Mexico, through which more than 160,000 people tried to enter in March, according to official sources.
To remedy it, the government announced a battery of measures with which it hopes to stop an avalanche.
According to the State Department, Washington will open “regional processing centers” throughout Latin America “to facilitate access to legal pathways” of entry.
It will begin with Guatemala and Colombia, countries that the head of diplomacy, Antony Blinken, thanked “for their role as excellent partners of the United States in these efforts,” during a joint press conference with the Secretary of National Security, Alejandro Mayorkas.
These centers will be run by international organizations because they have “physical locations” where their experts and US officials “will prescreen the people who come,” Blinken explained.
It will be determined if the migrants “are eligible” to access refugee status, a temporary stay authorization, family reunification or a work permit in the United States.
With information from AFP
