Border Patrol Unveils ‘Operation Lifeguard’
EL PASO, TX – U.S. Border Patrol agents in El Paso Wednesday unveiled “Operation Lifeguard”, designed to protect the lives of migrants and bring justice to smugglers and guides who exploit them.
According to officials, “Operation Lifeguard” is an extension of OASISS (Operation Against Smugglers Initiative on Safety and Security), which involves a collaborative effort by multiple bi-national agencies that focuses on reducing the smuggling of migrants along the southwest border.
The formal announcement included a media event at Golden Key, followed by a gathering of participants at the American Canal, where El Paso Sector swift water rescue-certified agents and the Border Patrol Search Trauma and Rescue (BORSTAR) team demonstrated life-saving techniques that are routinely conducted to assist people in distress in area waterways.
The agencies involved include the Border Patrol, CBP Office of Field Operations, Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR), Policia Federal Preventiva (PFP), Centro de Inteligencia Policia (CIPOL), and Instituto Nacional de Migracion (INAMI).
The El Paso Office of the Consulate General of Mexico was also present to participate in the event and observe the swift-water rescue demonstration by BORSTAR.
The Office of the Mexican Consulate has produced a series of thirty-second public service announcements for radio that encourage migrants not to trust their lives to smugglers. These announcements will be distributed throughout Mexico in the days and months to come.
The OASISS program, established in August of 2005, demonstrates bilateral cooperation on the border and is carried out in a spirit of shared responsibility as a means of protecting migrants while addressing the phenomenon of migrant smuggling.
To date for fiscal year 2007 (through August 31), El Paso Sector registered a decrease in total deaths, down 24% from 33 to 25 deaths in comparison to fiscal year 2006.
