'Crazy amount of people': Emergency responses at southern border

REMOVAL PROCEEDINGS TO YOUR COUNTRY OF ORIGIN. AND FOR MEMBERS OF THE SUNLAND PARK FIRE DEPARTMENT, THEY VIEW STRICTER BORDER POLICIES AS A HUMANITARIAN EFFORT. ANY SPECIFIC AREA WHERE YOU WANT TO STOP FIRE? CAPTAIN ABRAHAM GARCIA TOOK US FOR A RIDE TO LOCATIONS WHERE THEY’VE HAD THE MOST CALLS. SOME OF THESE AREAS ARE UNREACHABLE FROM THAT DIRT ROAD TO HERE. IT LOOKS VERY SIMPLE, BUT ONCE YOU GET THERE, YOU’RE MET WITH DIFFERENT OBSTACLES. GETTING OVER THE BORDER WALL IS ONE OF THOSE OBSTACLES. THE WALL IN THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY, OR THIS PART OF THE SOUTHWEST. IT’S ABOUT 20FT TALL, MAYBE 25FT. GIVE YOU, YOU KNOW, GIVE ME ON THE LOCATION. SO. A MIGRANT WILL GET EITHER STUCK ON THE TOP AND WE HAVE TO RESCUE THEM FROM THE TOP, OR THEY’LL ACTUALLY FALL WHEN THEY’RE TRYING TO COME ON TO THE UNITED STATES SIDE. SOME LOSING THEIR LIVES. SUNLAND PARK FIRE CHIEF DANIEL MEDRANO SAYS IN 2024, THERE WERE FOUR MIGRANT DROWNINGS IN THE RIO GRANDE. LAST YEAR, WE HAD, ASIDE FROM RESCUES, QUITE A BIT OF BODY RECOVERIES WHERE WE ASSISTED OTHER AGENCIES WITH ACTUALLY PICKING UP BODIES IN THE DESERT. LAST YEAR WAS ONE OF THE BUSIEST, RESPONDING TO OVER A HANDFUL OF CALLS A DAY. WE SEE A LOT OF OPEN FRACTURES, MEANING THE BONE WILL ACTUALLY BREAK THE SKIN, COME OUT BILATERALLY. SO BOTH BONES, ESPECIALLY THE LONG BONES OF THE OF THE LEGS, WILL WILL ACTUALLY BREAK THROUGH THE SKIN. AND THAT’S A VERY TRAUMATIC INJURY. IT HURTS A LOT. UNFORTUNATELY WE DO SOMETIMES SEE HEAD OR SKULL FRACTURES. SO IT REALLY RUNS THE GAMUT TO PUT INTO PERSPECTIVE HOW DANGEROUS THIS TREK IS. I’M TAKING THE STEPS SO MANY BEFORE ME HAVE TAKEN. THE SAND IS SUPER SOFT. YOU’RE CLIMBING UP MOUNTAINS OF DESERT, THE SUN IS BEAMING DOWN ON YOU. THE SUMMER OF 2024. I MEAN, IT WAS JUST CRAZY WITH THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE THAT WAS UP HERE AND YOU COULD SEE THEM JUST LINED UP AGAINST THE ROCKS, LOOKING DOWN A COMB RIGHT HERE, BURIED UNDER THE SANDY DESERT OF SUNLAND PARK, ROSA FOUND A STORY OF SURVIVAL AND NEW BEGINNINGS. YEAH, A LOT OF THESE PEOPLE. THAT’S ALL THEY HAVE. THAT’S ALL. THEY COME HERE WITH. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT RESPONDS TO A THOUSAND CALLS A YEAR FROM PEOPLE TRYING TO CROSS THE BORDER AT A VICTIM. I WAS MY PARTNER’S VICTIM, NOT PHYSICAL ABUSE, BUT EMOTIONAL ABUSE. ROSA COULD HAVE BEEN ONE OF THOSE VICTIMS WHEN WE RETURN, I HAD FRIENDS THAT THEIR PARENTS WERE DEPORTED. IT WAS HARD. IT WAS TOUGH. I DECIDED TO COME SO MY CHILDREN WOULDN’T GROW UP THERE WITH THAT PERSON. FOR SOME, IT’S A LEGAL PATH, AND FOR SOME IT’S AN ILLEGAL PATH.

Fire Chief Abraham Garcia showed where Sunland Park Fire, the southernmost fire agency in New Mexico, received the most calls at the border.He explained that some areas are unreachable from the dirt roadway. Those obstacles can come in many shapes and sizes, including the border itself."The wall in this part of the country or this part of the southwest, it's about 20 feet tall, maybe 25 feet, given the location," Garcia said. "So a migrant will get either stuck on the top and we have to rescue them from the top or they'll actually fall when they're trying to come on to the United States side."Those rescues differ from body recoveries, where first responders are looking to locate and retrieve a body or bodies of those presumed dead. "Last year, aside from rescues, we had quite a bit of body recoveries where we assisted other agencies with actually picking up bodies in the desert," Garcia said.The Sunland Park Fire Department responded to a water rescue in June 2024 involving five people. One person was rescued and three others were recovered.Two weeks later, more than 50 people were rescued from the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico. There were no reported injuries in that response, which was assisted by El Paso first responders."The summer of 2024, it was just crazy the amount of people that were up here, you can just see them lined up against the wall looking down," Garcia said.Garcia said he has lived on the border his entire life, including his playing days prior to the wall being put up in his area.Those experiences led him to lead a fire agency assisting directly in migrant responses."When the wall was being built and after the wall was built, there's constantly been illegal migration into the United States," Garcia said.

, N.M. —

Fire Chief Abraham Garcia showed where Sunland Park Fire, the southernmost fire agency in New Mexico, received the most calls at the border.

He explained that some areas are unreachable from the dirt roadway. Those obstacles can come in many shapes and sizes, including the border itself.

"The wall in this part of the country or this part of the southwest, it's about 20 feet tall, maybe 25 feet, given the location," Garcia said. "So a migrant will get either stuck on the top and we have to rescue them from the top or they'll actually fall when they're trying to come on to the United States side."

Those rescues differ from body recoveries, where first responders are looking to locate and retrieve a body or bodies of those presumed dead.

"Last year, aside from rescues, we had quite a bit of body recoveries where we assisted other agencies with actually picking up bodies in the desert," Garcia said.

The Sunland Park Fire Department responded to a water rescue in June 2024 involving five people. One person was rescued and .

Two weeks later, from the Rio Grande in southern New Mexico. There were no reported injuries in that response, which was assisted by El Paso first responders.

"The summer of 2024, it was just crazy the amount of people that were up here, you can just see them lined up against the wall looking down," Garcia said.

Garcia said he has lived on the border his entire life, including his playing days prior to the wall being put up in his area.

Those experiences led him to lead a fire agency assisting directly in migrant responses.

"When the wall was being built and after the wall was built, there's constantly been illegal migration into the United States," Garcia said.

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'Crazy amount of people': Emergency responses at southern border

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