We made the news

  Palomas, Chihuahua, Mexico
Monday, March 12, 2007

We were working the Center Saturday when this family arrived. While the director (an EMT) attended to the needs of the injured woman, we ran the soup kitchen.

Humanitarian group sees Mexican family on its way
By Kevin Buey Deming Headlight Staff
Article Launched: 03/15/2007

Ana Lilia Martinez, 29, her right arm in a sling, waits with her three boys... (Contributed photo)

 
A family of four who made its way to Desert Humanitarians Resource Center in Palomas, Mexico, late Friday, was provided medical attention, food and blankets by Resource Center personnel.

Alima McMillian, coordinator of the center, says Ana Lilia Martinez, 29, and her three boys came to the center Saturday, after sleeping in a Palomas park Friday night.

"The seņora was too shy," McMillian reports in an e-mail, "to say that her arm was fractured and (too) frightened to go to a U.S. hospital. When the family returned to Palomas, they went to Desert Humanitarians Resource Center and we were able to feed them, give them blankets and help the seņora with receiving medical attention. We contacted Grupos Beta (Mexican Border Patrol) and were able to follow a process which resulted in having the fracture soft splinted at a clinic in Palomas, the family put on a bus for Juarez to see a Grupos Beta doctor and then on the journey to their home."

Julio Casar Cansino of Grupos Beta assisted McMillan and Martinez and her family.
McMillian said the Martinez and a second woman with three children, all from Zapatecas, Mexico, began walking across the desert without a guide and were reportedly apprehended between Deming and Columbus after a day's walk. McMillan had no information on the second woman and her children. The U.S. Border Patrol has no information on the group or its apprehension.

The USBP did report Wednesday a rescue Monday of an illegal immigrant, southwest of Deming. Jose Manuel Murguia-Nuņez, 53, of Madero, Distrito Federal, Mexico, was rescued by the USBP Horse Patrol Unit, members of which saw the man walking toward them carrying an empty water bottle.

A release from the USBP reports first aid was quickly administered and the man was re-hydrated but briefly lost consciousness. Upon regaining consciousness within 2 to 3 minutes, he complained of chest pain, was transported to a site where medical treatment was available, then taken to Mimbres Hospital for treatment of severe dehydration and exposure.
The man was later released from the hospital and processed for return to Mexico.
In Fiscal Year 2007, USBP agents in the El Paso Sector - which covers New Mexico - have rescued 28 migrants. In Fiscal 2006, agents rescued more than 500 migrants.
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Sorry this post is so long, but I also wanted to mention that we saw Eagle Pass, TX on the NBC Evening news this week, reporting on the dearth of border crossings there--as posted here months ago.