Migrant dies due to apparent heat-related illness after Border Patrol agents find him in distress in Imperial County, California

On October 2, 2022, at approximately 3:58 p.m., a Border Patrol agent assigned to the Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue team encountered three individuals on the shoulder of Interstate 8 in Imperial County, Calif., near the Imperial Sand Dunes, approximately two and one quarter miles north of the U.S./Mexico border. Upon the initial encounter, one of the individuals fled in a grey Mercedes and was subsequently apprehended by another Border Patrol agent. The BORSTAR agent questioned the two remaining individuals who indicated there was another individual approximately 20 yards south of their location behind a sand dune. With the assistance of another Border Patrol agent, the BORSTAR agent located the individual, a citizen of Mexico, who was in distress and unconscious. The agent drove his assigned United States Border Patrol pickup truck over the sand dune, and the agents placed the man in the bed of the pickup truck while they doused him with cold water. The agents transported the man to a California Ranger Station, located approximately one-half of a mile away, for medical evaluation.
  
Upon arrival at the Ranger Station, the BORSTAR agent contacted Emergency Medical Services and began to treat the man for possible heat-related illness by applying an intravenous drip and cold packs. The Imperial County Fire Department and American Medical Response arrived on scene and took over medical care at approximately 4:19 p.m. EMS transported the man to Yuma Regional Medical Center at approximately 4:30 p.m. The man was admitted into the medical center while under Customs and Border Protection hospital watch. 

The man was processed in accordance with CBP guidelines, released from CBP custody, and remained at the medical center in critical condition on October 5, 2022. The man succumbed to his ailments and was declared deceased by medical personnel on October 17, 2022.
  
This incident is under review by CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General was also notified.