WASHINGTON — A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer stopped to render lifesaving medical care to a 14-year-old found unresponsive in a roadside ditch along Interstate 37 in Texas earlier this month, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
According to DHS, ICE law enforcement officer Javier Moralez of the Harlingen–Corpus Christi Sub-Office was driving on Interstate 37 on July 2 when he noticed two vehicles stopped ahead and an individual lying face-down in a roadside ditch. Moralez pulled over, notified emergency services, and immediately began providing medical assistance, the department said.
According to DHS, Moralez instructed bystanders to help stabilize the victim’s head and neck, and assessed the victim’s airway and breathing in case CPR became necessary. The victim was breathing but unresponsive, DHS said.
According to the department, witnesses at the scene said the 14-year-old had jumped from a moving vehicle that had been traveling at an estimated speed of between 50 and 70 miles per hour.
DHS said personnel from the Corpus Christi Fire Department, Emergency Medical Services, and the Nueces County Sheriff’s Office arrived shortly afterward and assumed medical care, transporting the victim for further treatment. Moralez provided a briefing to the responding deputy and cleared the scene, according to DHS.
“This ICE officer didn’t hesitate when he saw someone lying unconscious on the side of the road. He immediately pulled over and rendered lifesaving medical care to the 14-year-old until emergency services arrived,” Acting Assistant DHS Secretary Lauren Bis said in a statement. “The men and women of ICE truly are the best of the best, fighting every day to protect the American people despite the smears and attacks they face from sanctuary politicians and media outlets.”
The condition of the 14-year-old was not disclosed in the DHS release. The circumstances that led the teen to leave the moving vehicle were also not addressed.
Source: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
