LAREDO, Texas – The Laredo Sector Deer Blind Initiative is part of the Border Patrol’s safety and awareness campaign implemented to prevent deaths and increase rescues of illegal immigrants. The Deer Blind Initiative utilizes stickers on deer blinds that contain a Global Positioning System (GPS) and a contact number for individuals in distress, or those who want to report illegal activity.
explains the Laredo Sector Border Patrol
Deer Blind Initiative during a Border
Safety Initiative media tour held this
summer.
The Laredo Sector Border Patrol has worked with many local ranch owners and has posted deer blind stickers on over 2,000 deer blinds. This past summer, Laredo Sector Border Patrol Chief Mario Martinez demonstrated to members of the media how our Deer Blind Initiative works, and how it has proven to be successful in rescuing people in distress.
On October 5, 2016, Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents rescued several undocumented immigrants at a ranch near Hebbronville, Texas. The incident occurred around 5:00 p.m., when Border Patrol agents from the Hebbronville Station responded to a 911 call coming from an illegal immigrant lost at a local ranch in Hebbronville, Texas. The lost subjects gave the 911 operator the number from a sticker that he found on a deer blind. Border Patrol agents were able to determine the exact location of the subjects using the deer blind coordinates on the sticker. The subjects advised that they were without food or water for some time. Fortunately, the deer blind stickers were successful in assisting the Border Patrol agents in rescuing them in time.
“Smugglers continue to leave these illegal immigrants to die. It is a dangerous trek to enter this country illegally; thankfully through the Deer Blind Initiative, Border Patrol agents were able to locate and rescue these people that were left behind by these unscrupulous smugglers,” said Mario Martinez, Laredo Sector Chief Patrol Agent.