Agents with the Yuma Sector Border Patrol and consuls for Mexico, Guatemala and Ecuador in Arizona met with reporters on Wednesday morning in Yuma.
As the weather in Yuma heats up, the message is that migrants will still come despite the ungodly heat but that agents with the Air and Marine Branch and BORSTAR as well as emergency services in Mexico are on call.
Yuma Sector Chief Patrol Agent Sean McGoffin said migrant deaths are down 70 percent in the past two years. He said tools including 24 rescue beacons throughout the desert help agents locate migrants before it is too late.
“As we move into the future, we will continue to do our best to ensure that we rescue people, no matter where they’re from or their citizenship and give them the proper medical attention," Chief McGoffin said. We really don’t care where they’re from. If somebody is in distress we answer the call because that’s what law enforcement does.”
Dulce Maria Valle Alvarez is the consul for Mexico in Yuma. She said migration is essentially an economic and social phenomenon that cannot be prevented but it can be organized and humane.
“We want to reduce the number of migrants that are injured or who die on their journey," she said. "One death is one too many.”
Among the agencies in Yuma on Wednesday was C5 from Sonora. That's the Centro de Comando, Control, Cómputo, Comunicaciones y Contacto Ciudadano or Control, Command, Communication, Computer and Quality Center.
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Stay tuned to KAWC for more reporting from the Yuma Sector Border Patrol from reporters Victor Calderón and Chris McDaniel.
