Honduran Family Saved from Drowning at Texas Border

Border Patrol agents in the Del Rio Sector rescued five members of a Honduran migrant family from possibly drowning in the Rio Grande River. The family included children as young as six-years-old.

River-based agents assigned to the Eagle Pass Station observed a group of people clinging to stone pillars of the international bridge that spans the Rio Grande River on Saturday afternoon. The agents quickly moved their boat into a safe position to carry out a rescue of the five stranded migrants, according to information obtained from Del Rio Sector Border Patrol officials on Tuesday evening.

The agents safely boarded the five illegal immigrants and transported them to the shore for an immigration interview. The agents learned that all five are from Honduras and are members of a single family. The five migrants included children as young as six-years-old, officials stated.

Agents determined the family did not need medical assistance and transported them to the Eagle Pass Station where they will be processed according to Del Rio Sector guidelines.

“Every year multiple lives are lost to the inherent hazards of trying to cross illegally into the United States,” Del Rio Sector Acting Chief Patrol Agent Mathew J. Hudak said in a written statement. “In Texas, one of the biggest perils that migrants can face is an unforgiving Rio Grande River. Fortunately for this family, the diligence and quick thinking of the Eagle Pass Marine Unit saved five more lives from certain tragedy.”

At least 36 people died during or shortly after illegally crossing the border in the Del Rio Sector this year, according to the International Organization for Migrants’ Missing Migrant Project. Many of those deaths include drownings in the Rio Grande River.

Of the nearly 350 confirmed deaths along the U.S.-Mexico Border this year, at least 211 occurred in Texas.