Border Patrol forced to negotiate tough terrain

The agents used white plastic bands to tie the wrists of 11 men into pairs or threesomes to prevent them from running. A 41-year-old woman and her teenage daughter and son were allowed to walk untied.

The Mexicans walked quietly, occasionally cracking jokes but mostly keeping to themselves.

With one agent leading and the other behind, they walked six hours over moonlit rocks and scrub. During their only rest stop, an agent passed around beef jerky and water.

As the migrants turned uphill on a switch-back trail around 10 p.m., the 13-year-old boy began to limp. He collapsed on the trail every five minutes, muttering “I can’t” in Spanish.

Cary sighed in exasperation.

“You play soccer. ... You walk to school,” he told the boy. “This is nothing.”

Another group of agents in the same canyon called periodically by radio to report their arrests — first a group of 15, then eight, finally two.

Migrants likely to try again
At midnight, the agents converged near three vehicles, which took the migrants to a Border Patrol station for interviews and processing. Back at the airport hangar, the agents calculated that they walked 4.2 miles over eight hours, dropping 2,900 feet in altitude and then climbing 200 feet.

All told, the two teams arrested 64 people, adding to the unit’s total of about 16,000 to date.

Typically, nearly all migrants return voluntarily to Mexico without facing charges, escorted in vans to the main border station at the Tijuana-San Diego crossing. This night is no different.

One Mexican had been deported three times before. Another said he was a foot guide for the smugglers and was to be paid $200 a person. Neither met federal prosecution guidelines.

“That’s what’s so demoralizing,” said Chuck Albrecht, the Air Mobile Unit’s field operations supervisor. “You know a lot of them are just going to try again eight hours later.”

MORE FROM SECURITY

Security Section Front

For massive ego, a perfect arena   New Yorkers worry about 9/11 trial Trial of 9/11 suspects poses legal risks White House says top lawyer to step down   Lawmaker: Hasan linked to Pakistan Cheney blasts probe of CIA interrogations Security Section Front   Add Security headlines to your news reader: