see also: in May 2004:   CBP Border Patrol Nabs 3 Men and 3,000 lbs Of Dope   U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol Seize Over 10 Tons of Marijuana In a Three-Day Period Along Southwest Border   CBP Officers Seize Almost 6,000 Pounds of Marijuana at Otay Mesa Cargo East Facility   U.S. Customs and Border Protection Modifies Procedures Regarding Entry Requirements of Foreign Journalists   U.S. Customs and Border Protection Announces that Port of Tokyo Becomes 19th Container Security Initiative (CSI) Port to go Operational   CBP Border Patrol Agents Seize Over 10,000 Pounds of Marijuana in the Rio Grande Valley Overnight   First Class of U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agriculture Specialists Begins Training ...more on cbp.gov:   CBP News Releases   Press Officers

contacts for this news release

McAllen, Texas - U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Commissioner Robert C. Bonner and Magdalena Carral Cuevas, Commissioner of the National Institute of Migration within the Mexican Ministry of Interior, announced this year's Border Safety Initiative (BSI) campaign. The U.S. / Mexico BSI campaign is a bilateral effort that focuses on disrupting smuggling routes and educating would-be illegal migrants about the dangers of confined spaces and heat-related deaths.

"The Border Safety Initiative is about making our shared border with Mexico safer and more secure. Controlling our mutual border is a safety issue and, since 9/11, a national security issue. But we can't do this alone," said Commissioner Bonner. "We are partnering with the Government of Mexico on initiatives that will reduce migrant deaths by providing search and rescue training and public service announcements. We are also developing initiatives that will disrupt and stop the flood of illegal migration and reduce the loss of life that too often accompanies it."

In March 2003, the Border Patrol became a division of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the single, unified U.S. border agency within the Department of Homeland Security, whose priority mission is keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country. CBP is an agency.

The Border Patrol's Search Trauma and Rescue team (BORSTAR), the premier border search and rescue team and a vital element of the Border Safety Initiative, rescued 1,221 people last year along the Southwest border, and so far this year, rescued more than 300 illegal migrants.

Last year 340 people died trying to cross the border. As of May 1, 2004, 82 people have died. The "death season," May to September, when the death rate from illegal crossings soars, has not even begun

Commissioner Bonner emphasized: "Through increased enforcement efforts, the focus is to secure our border. A more secure border will reduce illegal entries, and thereby reduce migrant deaths."

This year's Border Safety Initiative message in Spanish, "No Mas Cruces en la Frontera," translates to "No More Crosses on the Border," a dual message warning illegal migrants not to cross the border because they risk death or apprehension. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is pro-actively pushing this theme with the help of the Mexican government throughout Mexico and in Central America, using posters and a series of radio and television public service announcements targeted at would-be migrants. These spots depict the horrors of confined-space smuggling such as the Victoria, Texas, tractor-trailer tragedy one-year ago in which 19 people suffocated to death, as well as desert related deaths from dehydration and exposure, which are extremely all too common in the Sonoran desert.

In addition to joint outreach efforts, CBP Border Patrol has trained more than 1,320 Mexican fire and law enforcement personnel in search and rescue techniques. The binational training included water rescue; emergency medical training; personal watercraft rescue training; search, trauma and rescue training; simulated firearms training; four-wheel drive training; sign-cutting; anti-terrorism; first-aid training and more. This training enables officers to identify and render aid to illegal migrants injured on the Mexican side of the border. Additional training sessions for Mexican fire and law enforcement personnel are scheduled along the southwest border for later this year.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the protection of our nation's borders. CBP unified Customs, Immigration, and Agriculture Inspectors and the Border Patrol into one border agency for the United States.