Border Patrol Agents in Texas Halt Daring Illegal Border Crosser Under Bridge

El Paso, Texas April 21, 2008 – Border Patrol agents from El Paso rescued a man Sunday who became stranded after crossing into the U.S. illegally by using a make-shift cart and the support beams under the bridge as rails to transport himself under the Bridge of the Americas.

At approximately 1:50 p.m. Border Patrol agents assigned to the El Paso Station were conducting line watch operations when one of the agents noticed a man hiding underneath the BOTA on a support beam. Agents called out to the individual but received no reply. The El Paso Fire Department was summoned and responded to the area with a ladder truck. As the individual was being rescued, agents noticed a crude cart approximately 15 yards south of the
Make-shift cart used by illegal border crosser under Texas bridge. cart_5

individual’s location. The man was safely escorted from the underbelly of the bridge and questioned by agents as to his nationality. The man admitted being a Mexican National who entered the United States illegally. Both the subject and the cart were taken into custody and transported to the Paso Del Norte Border Patrol Processing Center for further investigation.

Agents began to investigate the incident and the use of the cart by the illegal migrant. He claimed that smugglers had arranged to have a group of people smuggled using the carts, but the cart had lost a wheel and he became immobilized. Agents proceeded to enter the subject into the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System to verify any criminal history. The subject was identified as Rafael Ernesto Corvalan-Herrera, and found to be a Citizen and National of Chile, and not from Mexico as he previously claimed. It was also revealed that he is a registered sex offender in Dade County, in Florida. The subject was found to have been previously deported and was turned over to the El Paso County Detention Facility pending criminal prosecution. Mexican authorities were also advised of the situation.

This latest arrest is indicative of the increasing dangers faced by immigrants as smugglers look for more creative methods to avoid the "zero-tolerance" policy in west Texas and New Mexico with little or no regard for human life and the challenges faced by Border Patrol agents on a regular basis.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection