Mom's Dramatic Birth at Border Crossing

Ana Suez Rey cuddles son Derrick, born November 8, in Presidio, Texas. Photo: U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Just after 11 p.m. Saturday night, Customs and Border Protection officers on the Mexico - Texas line got a special delivery: A newborn baby boy. 

Ana Suez Rey, of Presidio, Texas, went into labor while crossing back into the U.S. at the Presidio Point of Entry. The mom-to-be, 28, asked for an ambulance as soon as she and a friend rushed up to the checkpoint but her baby wasn’t willing to wait. Less than seven minutes after officers escorted Rey’s vehicle to a secondary inspection area and helped her out, little Derrick Rey came out too.

STORY: Woman Wakes From Coma, Gives Birth to Healthy Girl

“Our officers jumped into action quickly,” Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) spokesman Roger Maier tells Yahoo Parenting of the crew who helped deliver the infant and then wrapped him in their duty jackets until the Presidio EMS arrived. Another seven minutes later, mother and son were whisked off to nearby Big Bend Regional Medical Center, both in good health. 

“Fortunately CBP officers are highly trained personnel [able to provide] medical aid when necessary,” CBP Presidio Port Director John Deputy noted in a statement. But acting as labor and delivery doctors is admittedly outside their realm of experience.

“It has been a long standing tradition of U.S. Custom and Border Protection to welcome U.S. citizens when returning home from abroad however it is rare when we have the opportunity to welcome a new citizen into the world,” writes Deputy. “No one at the port can remember the last time this occurred here.”

Which makes the fact that mom and baby are just fine today all the more remarkable. “A manager here was talking to the mother in the hospital yesterday and she said everything is going well,” says Maier, who notes that crossing the country border in that area is just like going across town. “She and the baby seem OK.”

The CBP officers, though, are forever changed. Maier reveals that the group is still coming down from the high of welcoming a new life into the world. “Everyone was really excited, on a buzz about it really, because being able to share in something like this was such a wonderful moment,” he says. “It was certainly a change from their day to day activities. Usually what we see in our office are stories like illegal border crossings or apprehending a drug smuggler and this is so different. It’s such a feel-good story.”

The family isn’t incorporating any nod to the boy’s unique birth into his name – unlike the NYC couple who gave their daughter, born on a city sidewalk, the middle name of the bystander who covered mom with her coat – as far as Maier knows. The spokesman says Rey immediately named him Derrick. 

STORY: ‘How We Picked a Baby Name’

The tale of his arrival is special enough on its own, after all. And for the Customs and Border Protection officers who helped that night, it’s a gift that will keep on giving. “This is one of those events that we’ll be talking about for a long time,” says Maier. “It’s a story our office will share for years and years!”