The Associated Press

Agents with the Border Patrol's search-and-rescue team have saved 55 people along the border since fiscal 2004 began Oct. 1, the agency said Monday.
Among the most recent rescues were the March 30 recoveries of a mother and son who had been left behind in the desert by smugglers.

Two illegal immigrants approached agents that day to tell them the group they had been traveling with had left the woman and her son behind.

The agents found the pair a couple of hours later. Both were extremely dehydrated, according to the Border Patrol.

"The smugglers continually put the undocumented aliens in danger of losing their lives," said Ron Bellavia, a commander with the search-and-rescue team. "Smugglers lie to them about the distance they must walk and then abandon them when they can't keep up."