CNN — 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, authorities said. “This is a tragedy, and the State bears responsibility,” Rep. Henry 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. Early Saturday, three migrant bodies were recovered by Mexican authorities, according to Cuellar. The Department of Homeland Security said Border Patrol agents were stopped from assisting at the border. “In responding to a distress call from the Mexican government, Border Patrol agents were physically barred by Texas officials from entering the area,” a DHS spokesperson told CNN in a statement. “The Texas governor’s policies are cruel, dangerous, and inhumane, and Texas’s blatant disregard for federal authority over immigration poses grave risks.” The Texas Military Department said in a statement Saturday that it was contacted by Border Patrol 9 p.m. Friday about a “migrant distress situation” and searched the river with […]
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