A woman and two children drowned in the Rio Grande Friday night in Eagle Pass, Texas, after U.S. border agents were prevented from responding, federal officials said Saturday.
In a statement, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said U.S. Border Patrol agents were notified of the migrants’ distress by the Mexican government but were unable to enter the area from the U.S. side after Texas National Guard troops, under the direction of the Governor of Texas. Greg Abbott prevented them from doing so.
“Responding to a distress call from the government of Mexico, Border Patrol agents were physically barred by Texas officials from entering the area,” the spokesman said.
The deaths were US Congressman Henry Cuellar pointed out on SaturdayD-Texas, who said the dead were part of a group of six migrants on the river Friday night who were in danger.
Mexican authorities recovered the bodies of three of the migrants on Saturday, Cuellar said in a statement. Identities and exact ages were not available.
“Border Patrol attempted to contact the Texas Military Department, Texas National Guard and DPS Headquarters by phone to relay the information, but was unsuccessful,” Cuellar said in the release.
He continued: “Border Patrol agents then made physical contact with the Texas Department of Defense and the Texas National Guard at the Shelby Park entrance gate and verbally relayed the information. However, Texas Department of Defense troopers said they would not allow migrants access – even in an emergency – and that they would send a soldier to investigate the situation.”
In a statement, the Texas Military Department disputed that account, saying its personnel were alerted to a distress report but were unable to find migrants in need of assistance on the river and were later informed of an incident nearby on the Mexican side of the river. . , which did not require their help.
The department said it had contacted the Border Patrol Friday night, and the agency said Mexican authorities did not need the Texas department’s help.
“At no time did TMD security personnel observe distressed immigrants, nor did TMD remove illegal immigrants from the U.S. during this period,” it said.
Abbott’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Texas Department of Homeland Security referred such requests to the Texas Military Department, saying it was not involved in Friday night’s incident.
Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas Jr. said during a news conference Thursday that he received a phone call the day before from a Texas Department of Public Safety official informing him the state was assuming emergency custody of Shelby Parkwhich is located along the river and is in the area where the three migrants were having problems.
Salinas said an official with the Texas Military Department confirmed the acquisition. The department directs the Texas National Guard.
The move came amid an ongoing legal battle between the Department of Homeland Security and Texas over border access at Eagle Pass, which DHS says is blocked by concertina wire erected by the state. A lower court in December ruled in favor of Texas and barred federal agents from removing the barriers.
The latest U.S. Supreme Court filing by the Department of Homeland Security this week renews its request to block the state from barring federal agents from the area.
“Normal Border Patrol access to the border through points of entry at the federal border fence is also impeded by the Texas National Guard installing its own gates and stationing armed personnel at these locations to control entry,” the filing said.
The filing continued, “And the Texas National Guard has also prevented the Border Patrol from using an access road through the pre-existing state border barrier by placing a military Humvee there.”
White House spokesman Angelo Fernandez Hernandez told Reuters in a statement on Friday that the state’s efforts to block Border Patrol agents were essentially a form of political theater.
“Governor Abbott continues his extreme political stunts that not only seek to demonize and dehumanize people, but also make it harder and more dangerous for the Border Patrol to do its job,” he said.
Occupying the park appeared to be one component of Abbott’s efforts highlight migrant crossings and shaming the Biden administration for what he and other top Republicans have characterized as an open border policy. Abbott is sending planes of migrants to cities led by elected Democrats who have vowed to care for or shelter them.
At a news conference Friday, Abbott said the Eagle Pass acquisition was legal and necessary to prevent border crossings and to “maintain operational control.”
The governor was criticized for remarks during a Jan. 5 radio appearance, during which he said Texas was doing what it couldn’t to kill immigrants to stop illegal crossings.
“The one thing we don’t do is we don’t shoot people crossing the border, because, of course, the Biden administration would charge us with murder,” he said.
The Department of Homeland Security on Saturday criticized Abbott’s policies as beyond everyday politics.
“The Texas governor’s policies are cruel, dangerous and inhumane, and Texas’ flagrant disregard for federal immigration authority poses serious risks,” it said. “The State of Texas should stop interfering with US law enforcement by the US Border Patrol.”
A CBP spokesman expressed a similar sentiment Saturday: “We are saddened by the tragic drownings of immigrants in Eagle Pass. We remain gravely concerned about actions that prevent the U.S. Border Patrol from performing its core missions of apprehending people who enter the United States illegally and humanitarian aid response to people in need’.