Migrant woman died after being found unresponsive in NM desert
EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) — A migrant woman found unresponsive in the New Mexico desert on Sept. 14 died that evening, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Friday.
CBP said U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered the woman while looking for a group of migrants about 5 miles northwest of the Santa Teresa Port of Entry.
A Border Patrol medic determined that the woman was suffering from heat exhaustion before placing cold water and ice packs on her body to cool her down, CBP said in a news release. The agent then gave her an IV and applied an automated external defibrillator, though it didn’t advise a shock.
The Doña Ana Fire Department responded and took the woman to a hospital in El Paso, where she died.
CBP said the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office took custody of the woman’s body from the hospital, and the results of the autopsy are pending.
The woman was from Honduras.
This incident is under review by CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility and the El Paso County Medical Examiner’s Office. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General was also notified.