Texas denied federal authorities access to a border stretch as they were trying to rescue three drowning migrants, the Homeland Security Department said Saturday.
Hours after U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar declared the Texas Military Department and Texas National Guard “did not grant access to Border Patrol agents to save the migrants” Friday night, the federal government reported. Mexican officials found a lady and two children's remains Saturday over the border near Eagle Pass, Texas.
Cuellar, the leading Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee's homeland security subcommittee, said, “This is a tragedy, and the State bears responsibility.”
These drownings occur amid rising tensions between Texas and the U.S. over immigration enforcement. The Justice Department informed the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday that Texas had taken control of Shelby Park near Eagle Pass and refused Border Patrol agents entry.
The Texas Military Department reported Saturday night that one of its battalions investigated the river after Border Patrol informed them but found no migrants. The U.S. government claimed Texas had “physically barred” Border Patrol personnel from entering the park, but the statement did not address that.
Homeland Security confirmed Cuellar's distress call. Texas admitted taking the border city park on Saturday but claimed the federal government had mischaracterized its actions and it was seeking to address access problems.
Homeland Security stated that Texas officials forcibly stopped Border Patrol personnel from entering the park after responding to a Mexican distress call. “The Texas governor's cruel, dangerous, and inhumane policies and blatant disregard for federal immigration authority pose grave risks.
Abbott's Operation Lone Star, which targets illegal Mexican immigration, is centered in the park. Occasionally, the Rio Grande carries migrants to their deaths.