Three Migrants Drown in the Midst of Texas, White House Feud

A woman and her two children drowned in the Rio Grande while trying to enter the U.S. from Mexico on Friday night. U.S. border officials and a member of Congress say that Texas military officers stopped federal border agents from helping them.

There is a bigger fight over immigration between U.S. President Joe Biden's government and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who is a Republican. Since Biden took office in 2021, a record number of people have crossed the border illegally.

Under Abbott, Texas has been trying more and more to control its own borders, which has traditionally been the federal government's job.

Texas, White House FeudPhoto bydeccanherald

The three people were trying to cross the river near Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, which is not a legal way to enter the country. This week, the Texas National Guard added concertina wire and fences to the area.

The federal government told the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday that Texas put up the new barriers to keep federal Border Patrol agents from getting to a boat ramp they use to get to the Rio Grande.

When Texas responded on Saturday, it said that federal Border Patrol agents had not used the boat ramp much in the past few months and that, until Friday's filing, it was "unaware of federal law enforcement's current objections and was working promptly to address them."

A statement from Democratic U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar said that the Federal Border Patrol learned around 9 p.m. Central Time on Friday (0300 GMT Saturday) of a group of migrants in trouble as they tried to cross the Rio Grande.

It wasn't possible for federal agents to call Texas officials, so they went to the entrance to Shelby Park to talk to officials from the Texas Military Department (TMD) and the Texas National Guard.

"However, Texas Military Department soldiers stated they would not grant access to the migrants - even in the event of an emergency - and that they would send a soldier to investigate the situation," Cuellar's statement stated.

Police in Texas "physically barred" U.S. border officers from entering the area to do their jobs, which are to arrest people crossing the border illegally and help people in need, according to Luis Miranda, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

"The Texas governor's policies are cruel, dangerous, and inhumane, and Texas's blatant disregard for federal authority over immigration poses grave risks," Miranda stated in a statement. "The State of Texas should stop interfering with the U.S. Border Patrol's enforcement of U.S. law."

Cuellar said that the bodies of the woman and two children were found by Mexican police on Saturday. No one outside the group knows who the three people are. "This is a tragedy, and the State bears responsibility," he said.

The TMD gave a very different account. They said they were called by Border Patrol around 9 p.m. about a migrant in trouble, and a unit near the boat ramp searched the river aggressively but did not find any migrants.

About 45 minutes later, they saw Mexican police responding to an incident on their side of the river. They stopped their search after telling the Border Patrol what they saw, and the Border Patrol confirmed that the Mexican police did not need any more help, according to a statement from the TMD.

"At no time did TMD security personnel along the river observe any distressed migrants, nor did TMD turn back any illegal immigrants from the US during this period," the statement stated.

"Also, at no point was TMD made aware of any bodies in the area of Shelby Park, nor was TMD made aware of any bodies being discovered on the U.S. side of the border regarding this situation."

The Source: reuters