YUMA, Ariz. – A Yuma Sector Border Patrol agent rescued a pair of illegal aliens struggling in the water of the Salinity Canal.
On Friday at approximately 6:30 p.m., camera operators notified an agent in the area that they had visual of three subjects making illegal entry near the County 23rd bridge. Camera operators observed two of the subjects enter the water prior to the agent’s arrival. The agent approached and noticed that the two subjects in the water were having difficulty staying afloat while being spun around by currents. The agent quickly improvised a rope with knots and threw it into the water, rescuing both subjects. The agent was concerned that the struggling subject could have been pulled into rapids downstream. After the two subjects were secured, the agent apprehended the third subject near the bridge.
The two subjects rescued from the water were 26-year-old female and 19-year-old male Guatemalan nationals. The third subject apprehended was a 32-year-old Honduran national. The Guatemalan nationals told the agent they went into the water because they mistakenly thought the third subject was chasing them. The Guatemalan nationals claimed that two separate subjects in Mexico with rifles in a Jeep Cherokee threatened them approximately one hour prior to their illegal entry. The three subjects were processed and removed per Yuma Sector guidelines.