Three migrants, a woman and two children, drowned Saturday in the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas – very recently the epicenter of the migrant crisis – just days after state authorities blocked the US Border Patrol from accessing miles of the US-Mexico border, according to a post on X by Rep. Henry Cuellar.
“This is a tragedy, and the State bears responsibility,” Cuellar, a Democrat from Texas, said on X, formally known as Twitter.
The congressman said Border Patrol learned a group of six migrants were in distress in the Rio Grande at about 9 p.m. on Friday.
Border Patrol called the Texas Military Department, the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety but “were unsuccessful” at relaying the information by phone, Cuellar said in the social media post. Federal agents then went to the gate at Shelby Park, set up by Texas authorities, to provide the information, Cuellar said.
“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 said on X.
Sounds a lot like “it’s better for people to die rather than to go from one place to another without the correct documents.”
Like all law enforcement agencies, CBP is interested in maintaining order. It is better for them to apprehend and process those crossing the border without documentation than to deliberately make the crossing more dangerous.
Not everyone who enters the USA without a visa is breaking the law. Not all types of illegal immigration are the same. The only way to make that determination is by apprehending undocumented migrants.