On February 16, a Guatemalan family contacted a group in southern Arizona about one of the family members who went missing in the Sonoran Desert after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border. They had his exact coordinates, a photo of him, and a photo of his ID. Martín (not his real name) had been walking with a small group for about six days and was unable to continue due to his chest pain.Tucson-based volunteers around 9:00 p.m. Frontera Relief Squad— A Search and Rescue and Humanitarian Relief Group established about two years ago — was involved. rice field. Lee hoped that this unit would be able to rescue the stranded man.

Leigh said BORSTAR agent Hector Acuña told her she needed to contact the Guatemalan consulate because a search could not begin until information was sent by the consulate. However, the consulate was closed at night. Another member of the Frontera Aid Collective, Scott Eichling, called BORSTAR again. Eichling said he wanted to make a report, and the dispatcher asked if this was about Martin. Telephone records show that when Eichling said yes, the dispatcher laughed and transferred him to Acuña. When Eichling asked if the search would begin that night, Acuña said he would send someone in the morning. These were the first of more than 40 calls of him from different people over two days. That night alone was attended by a humanitarian aid organization called BORSTAR, Three Points Police Department, Pima County Sheriff’s Department, and Tohono He Oodum Police Department.

Meanwhile, the temperature dropped sharply. Temperatures dropped to 27 degrees in the nearby town of Sasabe, and Martin was above the elevation of the Babo-Kivari Mountains, about 50 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The sacred site of Tohono Oddam and the landmark of the desert-migrating group, the most prominent peak stands at 7,730 feet. Martin’s place was frigid.

Since the Border Patrol’s initial deterrence operations in the mid-1990s, unauthorized migrants have moved through this area west of Nogales, which includes Arivaca, the Buenos Aires Wildlife Sanctuary, and the Tohono Odam Reservation.It was like this in Arizona Operation Safeguard (younger brother of California-based Gatekeeper and El Paso-based Hold the Line) brought more agents, walls, and technology to the border cities of Arizona, driving border crossers into the desert.2000 In the 1990s, deterrence strategies expanded from urban areas to rural areas such as around Sasabe. The budget after 9/11 is Safety fence method and SBI Net, built walls, filled borderlands with enforcement technology, and forced people into more dangerous landscapes like the Babo-Kivari Mountains. Some of the border’s most traveled routes now pass through these desolate areas. 30 foot wall around Sasabe (courtesy of the Trump administration) and integral fixed tower (courtesy of the Obama administration).

So Martin got lost in a place where many died across the border. Martín sat in the Red Sea on a map with red dots showing where human bones had been found in the last 20 years.

The red dots on this map show where the bodies of those who crossed the desert were found.you can find the map here on the Humanitarian Borders website.

According to CBP Information sheet, BORSTAR, was created in 1998 to help address “rising border guard injuries and migrant deaths along the border.” Over the years, Border Patrol spokespersons have emphasized that BORSTAR: save a lifeHowever, according to the title report, Left to Die: Border Patrol, Search and Rescue, Missing Danger, published by the humanitarian group No More Deaths in 2021, Border Patrol’s unresponsiveness to Martín was not unusual. We tracked hundreds of distress calls to the government initiative Derechos Humanos Missing Migrant Crisis Line. According to the data they compiled, 63% of calls did not confirm a rescue call. In 37% of cases with rescue operations, searches were less rigorous than in cases involving US citizens. And in 27% of these cases, neither the person nor the body was found. Historically, according to research According to geographer Jill Williams, Border Patrol’s focus on rescuing BORSTAR seems disproportionate to the actual rescue. However, BORSTAR’s annual budget is at will It is reportedly $1.5 million, or 0.03% of the Border Patrol’s total budget. Perhaps this is why, in an unpublished open letter to Border Patrol, written by members of the Tucson Samaritans and Frontera Aid Collectives involved in the rescue, BORSTAR is called a “publicity stunt.”

After suspicions that something might be done after Border Patrol/BORSTAR decided nothing would be done that night, a small group of people, including Leigh and Eichling, Tucson Samaritan The Frontera Aid Collective decided to search for Martín himself. Around 10 p.m., he arrived at a border patrol checkpoint on Route 286 (towards Sasabe) and spoke with an investigator who knew “a Guatemalan man in the mountains,” although the search was still underway. I was told no. Volunteers never reached Martin’s coordinates after that due to many obstacles such as locked gates and private property.

On February 17, the Tucson Samaritan and FAC tried again with another group from Phoenix. Search and Rescue of Abolitionists, which also focuses on direct action on immigration. Neither group reached Martín’s coordinates, but they saw a Border Patrol helicopter flying to Martín’s location, but quickly departed without landing. When Frontera Aid Collective volunteer Bryce Peterson later asked a Border Patrol agent why the helicopter hadn’t landed to rescue Martin, the agent said the man must be “dying.” I said no. Throughout this process, the rescue volunteer continued to call agencies such as Border Patrol and his BORSTAR (he made eight calls that day, according to call logs).

On 18 February the group set off again. Again they called Border Patrol several times, and after driving as far as they could on dirt roads toward Martin’s coordinates, the group came across a Border Patrol agent named Patch J. Morales. Migrants from Guatemala were “just on the other side of that peak,” he said. Morales said he was told to stay where he was and no other searches were being conducted by Border Patrol.

The group began to climb the mountain, shouting his name when they felt they were near. And they listened. I thought they heard something. they were right. he yelled back. they ran His jacket contrasted with the gold, green and brown of the Sonoran desert high in the Babo-Kivari Mountains. It was about 3pm and the sun was starting to set in the late afternoon. Martin had no food. The gallon jug was almost empty. Rescue volunteers said he looked depressed and exhausted. he was sitting on the ground The group gave him water and food and cared for his feet, but they were misshapen, cold, and wet “to the core”, as if he had been trapped in his boots for days. bottom.

They called his family and on speakerphone the man, his brother? They didn’t know—began to cry with relief. Martín’s family told him nothing else was wrong. Please do not continue. go home go home Money (he was paid a lot to travel, they said) was not the issue.

As they made their four-hour journey down the mountain, Martín was wobbly and unwell. He told Lee that he had come to the US to get his job and that one of his brothers was already here. At the foot of the hill, a Border Patrol agent named Brummell was waiting to arrest him. He, along with another agent, took Martin’s vitals on the road with a flashlight, processed them and deported them back to Nogales. Border guards did nothing but flyby a helicopter, rescuers said. I have contacted the U.S. Border Patrol for a response or comment regarding this situation with Martín and his BORSTAR actions, but at the time of publication the agency has yet to respond.

“I’ve been doing this for a few years, and sometimes in the summer, every weekend, I go on a lot of trips,” said volunteer David Zynda, one of those who were present at the final rescue. “And I think this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. All other trained search and rescue teams did not go either.

A bigger question arose. Had he not gone out and found Martin thinking BORSTAR was on board, would he have been left alone? and is it really a threat to immigrant livelihoods?

Before getting back on the road with his agents, Martin told Lee that many people from other countries, such as the United States, Canada, and Mexico, have come to his country to enjoy his country. . Never a problem for them. ‘ He wondered why it wasn’t the same here. He wondered why he was being treated this way. He said he didn’t understand why we were making it so difficult here.

It first appeared in Border Chronicles.