Border Patrol: Immigrants Raped, Robbed by Bandits

May 11, 2006, 05:23 PM
Reported by Ray Pedraza

A group of 25 immigrants from El Salvador, a dozen women and 13 men, receive a rude welcome as they illegally enter the United States illegally late Tuesday night.

As they crossed the Rio Grande in an area commonly known to U.S. Border Patrol agents as "El Rincon Del Diablo", or "The Devil's Corner", several border bandits appeared out of the brush and ordered the immigrants to strip.

Three of the women says they were then raped along a ditch that borders the river.

Agents say the bandit's motives are clear - the victims are raped for sex, robbed for their valuables and stripped naked to prevent them from escaping.

They say the motive is used by many bandits as they prey on those making their way across the Rio Grande from other countries.

"It's common for people (immigrants) to conceal things of value on their bodies or in concealed places, in pockets, or in their shoes and these bandits know that," explained Border Patrol Spokesman Roy Cervantes. "So they made them disrobe to look through their belongings but in the process several people in the group were molested."