TUCSON – Over the holiday weekend, U.S. Border Patrol agents in southern Arizona rescued a total of 25 people after responding to 10 separate calls for help. Temperatures this past weekend dipped as low as 27 degrees Fahrenheit.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, agents in the Tucson Sector rescued the illegal border crossers from desert and mountainous areas across southern Arizona.
Some of the incidents began as emergency calls from mothers who had been abandoned by their smugglers. The women and their children were lost, hungry and suffering from exposure to the cold.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Air and Marine Operations, provided air support for the rescue efforts. Several individuals required medical attention for non-life threatening injuries and were transported to local area hospitals.