Albuquerque, NM (KKOB) — The City of Sunland Park, NM, with a population of just over 17,000 is acquiring drones for its fire and police departments. The drones will be used to help rescue stranded migrants and hikers on Mount Cristo Rey and individuals struggling in the Rio Grande. City Manager Mario Juarez-Infante says they’ll also help authorities ensure children at public schools are safe whenever incursions by groups of people are reported. An often occurrence in the border community during migrant surges in the past few years. Adding, it’s very difficult for us to have line-of-sight, sometimes they try to assimilate with the schools, so that’s the advantage of having the drones. A total of 176 migrants have died in the past 12 months in the El Paso Sector of the Border Patrol that runs from Hudspeth County, Texas, to the New Mexico-Arizona state line.
