A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper rescued a migrant teen who injured his ankle while crossing the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass. The trooper carried the teen on his back from the river to awaiting medics.
Texas DPS spokesman Lieutenant Chris Olivarez tweeted photos and a video of a trooper rescuing a 17-year-old Venezuelan migrant. The teen injured his ankle while crossing the Rio Grande from Mexico.
The trooper, working the border region under Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star, carried the teenager on his shoulders from the river area, along a dirt roadway, to a recovery area where DPS medics provided assessment and initial treatment for the injured ankle.
Olivarez stated that the troopers summoned an ambulance to transport the teen to a local hospital for further evaluation and treatment.
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DPS troopers came under fire from media and Democrat elected officials this week after a leaked email from a trooper who said troopers were ordered to “push people (migrants) back into the water to go to Mexico,” Breitbart Texas reported. He also expressed concern over an order to “not give people water.”
The allegation from the trooper launched an investigation by the Texas DPS Office of Inspector General. Investigators are attempting to learn if orders contrary to Texas border security policy may have been issued in the field.
On Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced they are opening their own investigation into the reports of abuse of migrants along the Texas-Mexico border, CNN reported.
“The department is aware of the troubling reports, and we are working with DHS and other relevant agencies to assess the situation,” DOJ spokeswoman Xochitl Hinojosa told the news network.
Lt. Olivarez responded to the allegations, telling Spectrum News, “At no point has any trooper been told to physically push any migrant back into the river.”
“What we mean by pushing back, we’re talking about messaging,” Olivarez explained. “We’re talking about having a show of force standing at the river telling migrants that it is closed.”
“While we are attempting to stop migrants placing themselves in harm’s way by deciding to cross the Rio Grande, the fact is, more migrants are rescued because more people are present to quickly respond to these incidents,” Lt. Olivarez told Breitbart this week.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. 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.