Drowned Migrant’s Body Recovered from Texas Border River

Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents recovered a drowned migrant from the Rio Grande River. This marks the fourth drowning incident in the sector’s patrol area in Fiscal Year 2019.

Marine agents assigned to the Eagle Pass Station came upon the body of a migrant on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande on April 11, Del Rio Sector officials reported Monday. The agents found the body near a local water treatment facility.

“The recovery of a deceased person is one of the grimmest tasks our agents carry out,” Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul L. Ortiz said in a written statement. “This tragic and most recent death highlights the danger and unpredictability of the Rio Grande River.”

The Eagle Pass Fire Department assisted the Border Patrol marine agents in recovering the body. A justice of the peace made the statutory declaration of death. The body will be transported to a medical examiner’s office where an attempt will be made to identify the migrant.

Del Rio Sector officials reported four migrant drowning deaths in the Rio Grande so far this fiscal year. Fiscal Year 2019 began on October 1, 2018.

Agents recovered the first migrant’s body just five days before Christmas, Breitbart News reported. The migrant appeared to have drowned while illegally crossing the border in an area where no physical barrier exists.

On Valentine’s Day, agents recovered a second who died while crossing from Piedras Negras, Coahuila. This was about the time a group of caravan migrants arrived on the Mexican side of the border.

About a week later, the Eagle Pass marine agents recovered yet another body. Agents were not able to identify any of the deceased migrants at the time of their respective recoveries.

In addition to the four drowning deaths, at least two others died after illegally crossing the border.

Del Rio Sector agents also conducted marine rescue operations that saved the lives of dozens in distress while attempting to cross from Mexico. Many of those rescues included young children.

Since the beginning of April, at least 39 migrants died while or after crossing the border from Mexico into Texas–at least 74 nationally, according to the International Organization for Migrants’ Missing Migrant Project. This number is expected to rise during the summer months as cartel-connected human smugglers push large groups into the remote areas of the Texas-New Mexico-Arizona border areas.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for the Breitbart Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.