Three migrants, including two children, drowned in the Rio Grande on Saturday, CNN reports. A woman and two minors were part of a group attempting to cross into the United States from Mexico on Friday night at Eagle Pass, Texas, where federal Border Patrol access has been blocked by Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s border security project, Operation Lone Star, since last week.
Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar posted a statement to X (formerly Twitter) on Saturday, blaming Abbott for the tragedy. “Border Patrol personnel were forced out of Shelby Park earlier this week by the Texas National Guard under order of Governor Abbott. As a result, Border Patrol was unable to render aid to the migrants and attempt to save them. This is a tragedy, and the State bears responsibility.” In a follow-up, he clarified, “the Texas Military Department and the Texas National Guard did not grant access to Border Patrol agents to save the migrants.”
U.S. Customs and Border Protection told Texas Public Radio that Border Patrol agents were prevented from initiating rescue efforts Friday evening on Friday. Shelby Park, a 47-acre public park in Eagle Pass on the banks of the Rio Grande. Shelby Park was seized under an emergency declaration by Abbott on Wednesday, surprising local residents. Shelby Park had previously been under state control until the city council reclaimed it last August for public recreation.
Texas Military Department “did not deny that it had blocked access,” reports TPR, but claims a unit “actively searched the river with lights and night vision goggles. No migrants were observed,” then later observed Mexican authorities “responding to an incident on the Mexico side of the river bank.”
"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 Texas Military Department continued in a statement to press.
Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro released a statement Saturday on the deaths, saying, “This is what Operation Lone Star looks like on the ground. Texas officials blocked U.S. Border Patrol agents from doing their job and allowed two children to drown in the Rio Grande.”
“Governor Abbott’s inhumanity has no limit,” Castro’s statement continued. “Everyone who enables his cruelty has blood on their hands."
The U.S. Department of Justice has petitioned the Supreme Court to intervene after a court ordered Border Patrol to stop removing concertina wire installed by Texas at the border, arguing that Texas was blocking access to a crucial boat ramp in Shelby Park and, in effect, "Border Patrol’s ability to patrol or even to surveil the border and be in a position to respond to emergencies,” as Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar wrote in the filing.
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