The Biden administration, in a new filing with the Supreme Court, has acknowledged that the three migrants who drowned last week died long before Border Patrol agents sought access to the Shelby Park area from Texas officials — after the administration blasted the Lone Star state over the issue. event.
The Department of Homeland Security and the White House both targeted Texas after the deaths of three immigrants, including two children, in the Shelby Park area last week. Texas has seized the area and the administration says it refuses to grant Border Patrol access.
“Tragically, a woman and two children drowned last night in the Shelby Park area of Eagle Pass, which was controlled by the State of Texas earlier this week,” DHS said in a statement Saturday afternoon. “In response to an emergency call from the Mexican government, Border Patrol agents were physically prevented by Texas officials from entering the area.”
Migrants cross the Rio Grande while crossing into the United States. Getty Images
The statement went on to call Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s policies “cruel, dangerous, and inhumane, and Texas’ blatant disregard for federal authority over immigration poses great risks.”
The White House was equally outraged over the death on Saturday afternoon.
“On Friday night, a woman and two children drowned near Eagle Pass, and Texas officials prevented the US Border Patrol from attempting to provide emergency aid. While we continue to gather facts about the circumstances of this tragic death, one thing is clear: Governor Abbott’s political actions are cruel, inhumane and dangerous. The US Border Patrol must have access to the border to enforce our laws.”
The White House has previously criticized Texas for migrant deaths. Getty Images
However, in a court filing as part of the ongoing litigation, the DOJ said Mexican officials advised the Border Patrol at 9pm local time that the migrants had drowned at 8pm but that there were two more migrants “in distress” on the US side. border. The filing reiterates claims that the Border Patrol is not allowed to enter the area “even in an emergency situation.” The two additional migrants, who were suffering from hypothermia, were later rescued by Mexican officials.
However, the DOJ suggested that it might be able to track the migrants if they had access to the area.
“It’s impossible to say what might have happened if the Border Patrol had had access to the area in the first place — including through its surveillance trucks that helped monitor the area,” they said. “However, at the very least, the Border Patrol will have the opportunity to take whatever steps are available to fulfill its responsibilities and assist its counterparts in the Mexican government in conducting rescue missions. Texas makes it impossible.”
A White House statement initially called Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s policy “cruel, dangerous and inhumane.” AP
Texas initially pushed back against the narrative, saying claims it sought access to rescue distressed immigrants “were inaccurate.”
“Claim that [Texas Military Dept] preventing the Border Patrol from saving the lives of drowning migrants is inaccurate. At the time the Border Patrol requested access, the drowning had occurred, Mexican authorities were recovering the body, and the Border Patrol communicated this fact to TMD personnel on site,” the Texas Department of Defense said in a statement.
Abbott blamed lawmakers and some in the media for being “so eager to point [the] finger in Texas for [the] Immigrants are drowning, they forget to get the facts.”
“When BP requests access to [the] river, drowning has already happened & found in MX,” he wrote. “The fact is the death is b/c of Biden’s Open Borders magnet.”
Migrants line up as they prepare to be picked up by Border Patrol in Eagle Pass, Texas. ADAM DAVIS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
The dispute over Shelby Park heightened existing tensions between the federal and state governments. The federal government sent a cease-and-desist order to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxon this week, threatening legal action if it doesn’t back down.
That’s in addition to ongoing lawsuits related to the construction of razor wire by Texas and its destruction by the federal government, the establishment of buoys on the Rio Grande and the new anti-illegal immigration law signed by Abbott that allows state and local law enforcement . to arrest illegal immigrants.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
