Border Patrol agents helped deliver the baby of an El Salvadorian woman shortly after she and a group of people were apprehended while attempting to enter the United States illegally near El Paso, Texas, according to a press release issued Tuesday.
Agents caught 11 people on Dec. 2 who had entered Texas from Mexico about four miles west of the Ysleta Port of Entry and took them into custody. Upon arriving back to the border checkpoint, a woman in the group — a 34-year-old from El Salvador — said she was in her third trimester of pregnancy and had stomach pain.
A female agent responding to the complaints recognized the woman’s symptoms and said she was going into labor. First responders were called to the station and the same agent worked to comfort the woman through breathing and relaxation techniques.
Within a few minutes, El Paso Fire and EMS personnel arrived and helped the woman give birth to a baby boy on a bed of towels at the border facility. The mother and child were then taken to Sierra Providence East Hospital for evaluation and care.
The two remained hospitalized through Dec. 6 and were relocated to a temporary holding facility in Tornillo, Texas, while their immigration case is reviewed. But on Dec. 7, the woman told agents her newborn was not well. EMS agents were called to the facility and took the mother and child to El Paso’s Children’s Hospital. The baby was admitted, treated and said to be doing well.
Both the baby and mother were recleared to be fit for travel and are waiting for their immigration hearing.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection called the incident a “prime example of the compassion and professionalism demonstrated by U.S. Border Patrol agents on a regular basis.”
“Though these public service actions can go unseen in the community, agents remain dedicated to their solemn oath,” the Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.
