Texas officials accused them of allowing three migrants to drown by denying border agents access to a riverside park “grossly inaccurate.”
Texas troops insisted they had searched the Rio Grande and that a fatality had occurred by the time federal officials arrived.
“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 the Army said in a statement Sunday.
The controversy erupted after a woman and two children drowned Friday night while trying to cross the Rio Grande near Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas, which Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the TMD to seize and reinforce the crossing last week.
Barbed wire has been placed throughout the park, which extends to the banks of the Rio Grande, which marks the international border.
Federal Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents claim they were denied access to it without permission.
Texas National Guard troops are stationed alongside the Rio Grande in Shelby Park, which they have held since last week Getty Images
The TMD said they were alerted to the “immigrant distress situation” by CBP around 9pm on January 12 and began searching the river. About 45 minutes later they said Mexican authorities were seen responding to the incident on their river bank.
“At no time did TMD security personnel along the river observe any distressed migrants, nor did TMD turn away any illegal migrants from the US during this period,” the department explained.
After drowning, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) issued a press release claiming that CBP agents learned of a family in distress near Shelby Park and after being unable to reach TMD to notify them by phone had to go to the park and request access in person.
Migrants have swum the Rio Grande into Eagle Pass despite the region’s cold winter weather ADAM DAVIS/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Cuellar claims TMD told CBP agents “they will not grant access to immigrants – even in an emergency,” claiming they instead sent a lone trooper to check the river.
“Border Patrol personnel were forced out of Shelby Park earlier this week by the Texas National Guard under the direction of Governor Abbott,” Cuellar said. “This is a tragedy, and the State is responsible.”
TMD disagreed with Cuellar’s assessment, insisting CBP did not request access to rescue the drowning migrants, but rather to arrest the two members of their party who survived the crossing.
“The Border Patrol specifically requested access to the park to secure two additional migrants who are believed to have left with the deceased, despite having crossed to the boat ramp,” TMD said in a statement, noting that their agents picked up the migrants and treated them for hypothermia.
A man crossed the Rio Grande to Eagle Pass on Friday, the same day a woman and two children drowned there REUTERS
After recovering the survivors, the TMD said it scanned the river with lights and night vision goggles to make sure no one was left in the river.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott accused Cuellar of being in a high political position and “very eager to point fingers.” [sic] in Texas because of the immigrant drowning they forgot to get the facts,” in Sunday broadcast on X.
“Fact is death is b/c of Biden’s Open Borders magnet,” the governor wrote.
The Texas Department of the Army did not respond to The Post’s request for comment. Customs and Border Protection did not provide its own version of the event.
A spokesperson for the agency told the Texas Tribune: “We remain deeply concerned by actions that prevent the US Border Patrol from carrying out their important mission of apprehending individuals entering the United States illegally and providing a humanitarian response to individuals in need,” a CBP spokesperson said Saturday. ”
On Sunday, the Biden administration demanded the Texas Army stop barring federal agents from Shelby Park with a cease-and-desist letter sent from the Department of Homeland Security.
The refusal to allow federal agents into Shelby Park “impedes border patrol operations,” the letter reads, calling the action unconstitutional because it “contradicts the Border Patrol’s powers and duties under federal law,” according to the Texas Tribune.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
