U.S. Border Patrol agents from the station in El Centro, Calif., helped rescue a pregnant woman from the perilous currents of the All-American Canal near the U.S.-Mexico border, officials from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said.
According to the CBP, a concerned citizen flagged down an agent Tuesday around 2:20 p.m. to report a woman in distress in the canal near Anza and Weed roads, just west of downtown Calexico, Calif.
Agents saw the woman needed help and deployed a rescue throw-bag into the water for her to hold on to. She grabbed on, and agents pulled her to safety, the CBP said.
Agents soon discovered the woman was pregnant.
She told authorities she was experiencing numbness in her lower extremities, a possible early sign of hypothermia. Emergency medical crews transported the woman to El Centro Regional Hospital for further evaluation.
CBP officials said the woman was an undocumented immigrant attempting to enter the U.S. illegally via the All-American Canal, an 80-mile-long waterway known as a deadly passage into America. Hundreds have drowned in this canal while trying to cross the border.
After being released from the hospital, the woman was transported to the El Centro Sector Border Patrol station for processing on suspicion of illegal entry into the U.S. The woman’s name was not released.
