Texas Border Business
On November 18, 2023, at approximately 3:31 p.m., a Border Patrol agent assigned to the U.S. Border Patrol Clint Station in Clint, Texas, while operating a Mobile Video Surveillance System, observed one person on top of the International Border Barrier and two others north of the barrier exiting a drainage canal located approximately 6.76 miles southwest of the Ysleta Port of Entry. The surveillance system operator reported the suspected undocumented migrants via service radio. An agent assigned to the U.S. Border Patrol Ysleta Station driving a marked Border Patrol vehicle was nearby and headed toward the location, arriving at approximately 3:33 p.m. The agent notified dispatch over the service radio that he observed three adult females fall from the barrier and land on top of one another. The agent requested emergency medical services (EMS) and assisted the injured females by cutting a rope that the women had tied to each other. The agent then placed each woman into a recovery position. Additional responding agents apprehended four male individuals in the immediate area.
The El Paso Fire Department arrived on scene at approximately 3:50 p.m. and two Life Ambulance EMS units arrived on scene at approximately 4:01 p.m. The Life Ambulance units transported one woman to University Medical Center and another to Del Sol Medical Center. The third woman, later identified as a citizen of Mexico, suffered significant head injuries and was unresponsive with no pulse. EMS personnel evaluated the woman and ceased lifesaving measures. An investigator from the El Paso County Office of the Medical Examiner arrived on scene at approximately 8:16 p.m. and declared the third woman deceased at 8:35 p.m.
El Paso County Office of the Medical Examiner performed an autopsy on November 20. The autopsy report details are pending and will be released by that office when available.
Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) special agents interviewed the two surviving women at the hospital. The women stated the group’s guide advised them Border Patrol was approaching, and the women observed a Border Patrol vehicle heading toward them. The women stated panic ensued which caused one woman to attempt to climb back down the barrier with the other two women below her. The women were tied together about one foot apart as they climbed the barrier. When one woman panicked, all three of them fell from the barrier.
This incident is under review by CBP’s OPR, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, and the El Paso County Office of the Medical Examiner. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General was also notified.
