A woman and two children drowned in the Rio Grande as they tried to the enter the U.S. from Mexico after Texas military officers prevented federal border officials from going to their aid, according to U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar.
The deaths come as a dispute over immigration intensifies between Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, and the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat.
The migrants were attempting to cross the river near Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, according to Cuellar’s statement, which is not a legal port of entry, and where the Texas National Guard this week added new concertina wire and fencing.
In a response filed on Saturday, Texas said that federal Border Patrol agents had largely stopped using the boat ramp in recent months and until Friday’s filing, it was “unaware of federal law enforcement’s current objections, and is working promptly to address them.”
Federal Border Patrol agents learned at about 9 p.m. of a group of migrants in distress as they attempted to cross the Rio Grande, according to the statement by Cuellar, a Democrat.
