The crossing was captured by patrol cameras, and Border Patrol agents from the Ajo Station intercepted the migrants on U.S. soil.

U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered a group of 360 Central American migrants crossing the border southwest of Tucson on Tuesday morning, and rescued a group of migrants who were lost in the desert nearby.

Multiple buses transporting the group of 360 pulled up to the U.S.-Mexico border in West Pima county, and the passengers crossed under a vehicle barrier to enter the United States in the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, 14 miles from the Lukeville port of entry.

National Park Service map of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

The crossing was captured by patrol cameras, and Border Patrol agents from the Ajo Station intercepted the migrants on U.S. soil. Park service agents assisted.

According to a press release from the CBP’s Tucson Sector, other agents were redirected to assist in transporting, processing, and providing humanitarian attention to such a large group. As has been the recent trend, most of the 360 were traveling as families.

A separate group of 16 migrants placed a call for help to the Mexican emergency response number, also on Tuesday morning.

Mexican officials informed the Ajo Border Patrol Station of the group of lost individuals, and the two groups worked together to establish a location from descriptions made by the caller.

Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument in southern Arizona, located in the middle of the Sonoran desert which stretches across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) launched immediate air support while Border Patrol agents proceeded on ground. In their search for the caller and his group, they discovered 48 additional migrants in the surrounding area who had illegally crossed the border overnight.

The CBP helicopter first spotted the group in peril and Border Patrol rescued the group, assessed their medical needs, and then proceeded with their arrests for immigration violations.