Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents rescued a four-year-old girl after human smugglers carried her across the Rio Grande and abandoned her on the riverbank. The little girl is the same age as another child who recently drowned in this area after being swept from the mother’s arms.
Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Jason D. Owens tweeted an image of a river unit agent holding a four-year-old little girl in his arms. Owens said the agents found the child on a Rio Grande riverbank after a human smuggler carried her across the river and abandoned her.
Owens added this child is the same age as another child who drowned recently after the swiftly moving currents of the Rio Grande swept the child from its mother’s arms, as Breitbart Texas reported. A few days later, as Breitbart toured the region and spoke with marine unit agents, the agents found the child’s lifeless body.
There appears to be a spike in drowning deaths in the Del Rio Sector, Breitbart reported on Monday. A federal law enforcement official speaking with Breitbart Texas under condition of anonymity reported the deaths of eight migrants who drowned in the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, Texas, during the past two weeks. The photo provided by the official serves as a warning about the dangers of the swiftly moving waters of the Rio Grande at this time of year.
In addition to the eight drowned migrants in Eagle Pass, agents in Del Rio recovered the body of a one-year-old Brazilian girl from the Rio Grande on March 18, independent journalist Ali Bradley tweeted. The child was reportedly swept away from her father while crossing the river. He is also presumed to have drowned, but his body has yet to be recovered.
Responding to an inquiry from Breitbart Texas, Governor Greg Abbott said:
President Biden has created a magnet for illegal immigration, rolling out the red carpet with his reckless open border policies and enticing migrants to make the dangerous trek. Each day, this humanitarian crisis along the border grows as more women and children are trafficked, millions of lethal doses of fentanyl are smuggled in, migrants die during their journey, and law enforcement risks their lives to protect their communities. And all the while, the Biden Administration endangers innocent lives by refusing to do their job and secure the border.
Dr. Corinne Stern, Medical Examiner for Webb County, Texas, told Breitbart she is shocked at “how quiet the media has been with this.” While she does not have numbers from Maverick County, Texas, for this year. Eagle Pass is the county seat for Maverick County. She said the operational agreement between the two counties has not been renewed and Maverick County is holding the bodies.
“We had 296 crossing death come through this office last year!!,” Dr. Stern told Breitbart. “104 were from Webb (Laredo) and 72 were from Maverick (Eagle Pass) —most of theirs were drownings.”
She added that she too has heard about a large number of migrant deaths in Maverick County. At this time, specific numbers are not available from her agency.
CBP officials refused to confirm the number of migrants drowned this year in the Del Rio Sector. Officials responded they would not release these numbers at this time and offered no further comment.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.