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How Do I Report A Missing Person Suspected Of Falling Victim To Dangers Along The Border?
What is the Border Safety Initiative?
What is the Primary Mission of the Border Safety Initiative?
What Can I Do to Locate a Missing Person?
What Happens When I Call and Report Someone Missing?
What is the Border Safety Initiative?
The Border Safety Initiative (BSI)
is an aggressive effort to reduce injuries and deaths along the southwest border.
INS Commissioner Doris Meissner and Mexican Ambassador Jesus Reyes-Heroles publicly
announced the Border Safety Initiative in June 1998. The initiative is designed
to increase public awareness of the dangers of crossing the border illegally,
particularly in the hands of unscrupulous smugglers. Extremes in temperature
can result in dehydration and heat exhaustion or hypothermia. In the summer,
the heat is so intense that it can leave a person dehydrated and disoriented
in a matter of hours. Winter in the mountains brings driving rain, crippling
snow and brutal cold. The canals and rivers along the border appear deceptively
calm, but the currents are very strong. Smugglers often lead migrants into dangerous
terrain and abandon them without the essentials needed to survive the elements.
In addition to raising public awareness of dangers along the border, the U.S. Border Patrol is increasing rescue efforts and
training its agents in life saving techniques. 1-800 numbers established along
the southwest border provide family members a way to report or inquire about
missing persons suspected of crossing in dangerous areas.
What is the Primary Mission of the Border Safety Initiative?
The purpose of the BSI is to prevent deaths and reduce injuries along
the southwest border and to assist persons in life threatening situations. Officers,
migrants, and private citizens are all potential victims of the dangers along
the border. By increasing public awareness, the BSI hopes to inform potential
victims of the dangers of crossing the border illegally, particularly in the
hands of unscrupulous smugglers.
What Can I Do to Locate a Missing Person?
There are several ways to report a missing person suspected of falling
victim to the dangers along the border. You should be sure that the missing
person has indeed crossed the border, or had plans to cross the border before
they disappeared.
- Call one of the 1-800 numbers established by Border Patrol Sectors along the southwest border. If you know the area where the person crossed the border, you can call that particular Border Patrol sector's 1-800 number. The numbers are:
- McAllen Sector 1-800-863-9382
- Laredo Sector 1-800-343-1994
- Del Rio Sector 1-800-299-4402
- Marfa Sector 1-800-536-6204
- El Paso Sector 1-800-635-2409
- Tucson Sector 1-888-872-7435
- Yuma Sector 1-877-520-7670
- El Centro Sector 1-800-901-2003
- San Diego Sector 1-800-808-8727
- If the missing person is a Mexican citizen, contact the local Mexican Consulate. The Mexican Consulates located in the United States also receive calls for assistance and can contact the appropriate Border Patrol sector to assist in search efforts.
- You can also check with local law enforcement agencies and medical facilities. The BSI has established liaisons with other agencies and Mexican officials to cooperate in search efforts.
What Happens When I Call and Report Someone Missing?
The U.S. Border Patrol maintains a database of all persons who are rescued or who die attempting to cross the border. When you call to inquire about a missing person, the database is searched for possible matches. If a possible match is found you will be directed to the appropriate office for follow up. If you have reason to believe that the person is in immediate danger, a rescue search may be initiated. The Border Patrol is usually the first agency to respond to an incident along the southwest border, and may be assisted by other law enforcement agencies. However, if a death has occurred, a local law enforcement agency is immediately called to the scene and handles the investigation from that point.
The above information has been obtained from INS and was last modified on 7/3/2002
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