see also: in May 2008:   Deputy Chief of the Border Patrol Announces State of the Agency   CBP Celebrates Significant Occasions at Advanced Training Center in West Virginia   CBP to Issue New Frequent Traveler Cards   Ecstasy and Methamphetamine Seized at Ambassador Bridge   CBP Races to Secure NASCAR’s Monster Mile   CBP Air and Marine Agents Interdict Migrants in Florida at the Start of Memorial Day Weekend   Border Patrol Agents Rescue 51 Illegal Aliens from Tractor Trailer ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

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El Paso, Texas – On Friday, May 23, the El Paso Sector’s Swift-Water Rescue Team was recognized for the exemplary lifesaving work that they have been performing for more than 10 years in the El Paso area.

The Border Patrol nominated the El Paso Sector’s Swift-Water Rescue Team for the 2008 Higgins & Langley Special Commendation Award which honors the outstanding achievement in the technical rescue discipline of swift-water and flood rescue. The El Paso Sector Swift-Water Rescue Team was selected to receive this award by the National Association of Search and Rescue (NASAR). According to the Higgins and Langley Web site, the Memorial Awards were established in 1993 by the National Association for Search and Rescue. It was created in honor of Earl Higgins, a writer and filmmaker, who lost his life in 1980 while rescuing a child who was swept down the Los Angeles River, and Los Angeles County Firefighter/Paramedic Jeffrey Langley, a pioneer in swift-water rescue who lost his life in a helicopter incident in 1993.

The Border Patrol El Paso Sector Swift-Water Rescue Team (SWRT) was created in 1997 due to an increase in water related emergencies along the Rio Grande River and the American Canal located in El Paso, Texas. The team was created due to the increasing number of illegal immigrants attempting to swim across the American Canal to gain entry into the United States. Many of these illegal immigrants did not realize the canal’s waters were deceiving and treacherous and lost their lives trying to swim across the canal.

The team is comprised of Border Patrol agents that have volunteered to participate in this intense and demanding training with a willingness to engage in lifesaving activities while putting their lives at risk. Their selfless dedication and commitment to human life has not gone unnoticed and we encourage the community to join us in showing these men and women the appreciation that is well deserved. The awards were presented on Friday, May 30, at 6:30 p.m. at the annual National Association of Search and Rescue conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colo.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.