Pilots work ahead of foot agents to spot, stop entrants

GABRIELA RICO

Thick bushes lining the banks of a dry wash seem to be the only things visible from 200 feet in the air. But the trained eye of the U.S. Border Patrol pilot sees more.

White sneakers protrude from the bushes and are likely attached to a suspected illegal immigrant.
 
"Everybody up," says the pilot from above. "Do not run. Do not make this hard."

Nineteen illegal immigrants try to conceal themselves by crawling farther under the bushes.

"They have the utmost respect for me," says U.S. Border Patrol pilot John Kimmel, 41, chuckling as he lowers his helicopter closer to the ground. The action stirs up brush and dust.

The AS350-B3 Eurocopter then rises, and the pilot continues calling out commands in Spanish over the public address system.

Suddenly, everybody scatters across the desert, including small children who slow the group by stopping to shield their faces from the dust.

Finding a clear spot, Kimmel, a 16-year Border Patrol veteran, lowers the helicopter, and his partner, Bradford Rubinoff, 31, a Border Patrol search trauma and rescue agent, jumps out.

Kimmel takes to the sky again and circles the runners. By encircling them in dust, he hopes to contain them for his partner.

"Do not run!" he yells.

On the ground, Rubinoff, who has been with the Border Patrol for six years, manages to round everyone up and checks to see if any of the children need help.

Three men who the agents suspect are smugglers leading the group are handcuffed.

Agents who have been tracking the group on foot arrive and begin processing them.

Kimmel lands the chopper, pats his partner on the back and thanks the ground agents.

"No. Thank you," one of the agents tells them as the two climb back into the helicopter.

On this day, Kimmel and Rubinoff help catch 76 illegal immigrants who crossed through the western desert near the Tohono O'odham Nation.

They are part of the team concept that officials with the Tucson sector of the Border Patrol will expand in coming months.

Teaming pilots with special response agents gives the agency swiftness to work ahead of ground agents and keep illegal entrants and drug smugglers at bay while agents on foot make their way through the desert.

"This is a perfect example of the reason we're here," Kimmel says as he fastens himself back into the helicopter. "The agents are walking, and the aliens are walking, and no matter how fast (agents) walk, the group remains ahead of them. With us, I can see a mile or two ahead, so we get them."

Two earlier groups of illegal immigrants that Kimmel and Rubinoff assisted with were obedient. They followed Kimmel's direction to come out of hiding and sat together in a circle until the agents arrived on foot.

After patrolling at 105 mph, Kimmel can drop the chopper down to a "snail's pace" to track footprints.

The "bird" also allows agents to search remote areas of hillsides where migrants often fall into distress when they underestimate the desert.

"In the summer, when search and rescue becomes a routine thing, we are literally the eyes in the sky," Rubinoff says.

Mark A. Johnson, patrol agent in charge of Tucson sector air operations, has 12 helicopters and two planes in his fleet, along with 12 pilots.

More aircraft and pilots are expected to arrive before the desert reaches deadly temperatures.

"When summer comes, all flights are done with a sense of urgency," Johnson says. "When the temperatures rise, it's almost certain that someone out there is in distress."