U.S. Border Patrol hosts safety event highlighting dangers of crossing the border

EL CENTRO, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - The United States Border Patrol El Centro sector hosted its Annual Border Safety Event where participants walked a mile through the desert to experience the dangers migrants face when crossing from Mexico into the U.S.

The event took place in "Skull Valley," which gets its name from being the most desolate region along any border in the United States.

Representatives from the Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala Consulates participated in the walk, along with the director of the Mexicali Police Force.

During the walk, the Border Patrol demonstrated their search and rescue techniques such as thier utility terrain vehicles, armed patrol agents, and rescue beacons.

They say these events help bring awareness to the dangers that migrants put themselves in when attempting to cross from Mexico into the United States illegally.

"It's just to create awareness because walking through those very difficult lands and through these landscapes is just the best example of what you have to face if you enter through that way. The desert must be not an option," says Ricardo hernández Lecanda, the Deputy Head Council of the Consulate of Mexico in Calexico.

The United States Border Patrol says this event aims to save lives, and with summer just beginning, the heat as well as the danger is only increasing.