A mother and her two children drowned Friday while trying to cross the Rio Grande in Mexico to enter the United States, escalating a battle between the Biden administration and Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who seized a city park in an important corridor for illegal crossings. and denied entry to Border Patrol agents.
The deaths have also highlighted the growing dangers migrants face under Texas' intensified border policies, as the river's fierce currents are known to overwhelm migrants as they attempt to cross into the United States.
CNN reported that the Biden administration has given Texas until the end of Wednesday to stop blocking Border Patrol access to the 2.5-mile stretch of land bordering the river before “referring the matter to the Department of Justice for to take appropriate measures.”
The Biden administration has also asked the Supreme Court to intervene.
The drownings occurred in the Texas border town of Eagle Pass, near an area known as Shelby Park, a public park located on the banks of the Rio Grande, a major route for illegal immigration from Mexico that has become a key part of of Abbott's aggressive strategy. Strong measures to prevent migrants from crossing the border. The state took control of the park and closed access to the public and federal agents.
Abbott issued a statement Sunday night on X, formerly Twitter, saying President Biden “is doing everything he can to eliminate strategies that actually prevent illegal immigrants from entering our country.”
“Texas will continue to use every tool possible to block illegal immigration.” Abbott wrote.
The federal government and Texas authorities dispute whether lack of access played a role in the deaths.
Here's what we know and the questions that remain.
What the federal government says
The Justice Department on Monday asked the Supreme Court to restore federal access, providing the most detailed account yet of the deaths.
In the document, U.S. Attorney General Elizabeth Prelogar said Mexican officials alerted the Border Patrol about two migrants in distress on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande in the area near the Shelby Park boat ramp around 9 pm on January 12.
Mexican officials also told Border Patrol that three migrants had drowned around 8 p.m. that night in the same area, Prelogar wrote.
That account contradicts initial claims that the woman and two children had drowned after state troopers prevented federal agents from reaching them.
However, the Border Patrol still claims in a sworn statement from a chief patrol agent that Texas soldiers prevented Border Patrol officers from reaching the other two migrants who were in danger.
Mexican authorities confirmed on Saturday that they had recovered the bodies of the three drowned migrants and rescued four other migrants, including the two initially reported as in danger who had attempted to return to Mexico, according to the document.
“It is impossible to say what would have happened if the Border Patrol had had its previous access to the area, including through its surveillance trucks that helped monitor the area,” Prelogar wrote. “However, at a minimum, the Border Patrol would have had the opportunity to take all available measures to fulfill its responsibilities and assist its Mexican government counterparts in undertaking the rescue mission. “Texas made that impossible.”
According to the filing, an acting Border Patrol supervisory agent went to the entrance to Shelby Park to inform the Texas National Guard stationed there about the situation. The Border Patrol official spoke to the guard through a closed gate and was denied entry to the park, the attorney general wrote.
The Border Patrol official asked to speak to a supervisor, who was contacted and put on speakerphone, and told that Border Patrol agents could not access the park, even in “emergency situations,” Prelogar wrote. He sent members of the National Guard to investigate.
A statement issued by the Department of Homeland Security said that “Texas officials physically prohibited Border Patrol agents from entering the park” and called the governor's policies “cruel, dangerous and inhumane.”
“Texas' blatant disregard for federal immigration authority poses serious risks,” the agency said.
Friday night's incident demonstrates that “Texas is steadfast in its continued efforts to exercise full control of the border” and “to block Border Patrol access to the border even in emergency circumstances,” Prelogar wrote.
What Texas authorities say
The Texas Military Department issued a statement Sunday night questioning the federal government's version and calling it “totally inaccurate” that Border Patrol agents were prevented from saving the migrants.
“At the time Border Patrol requested access, the drownings had occurred, Mexican authorities were recovering the bodies, and Border Patrol expressed these facts to TMD personnel on the scene,” the department said.
According to the statement, the soldiers confirmed that when the Border Patrol requested access to the park they stated that Mexican authorities had already recovered the bodies of two drowned migrants. Border Patrol “specifically” requested access to the park to locate two migrants believed to have been traveling with those who drowned and who had crossed the boat ramp, the military said.
The military said it detained two immigrants, turned one over to the Department of Public Safety and transferred another to emergency medical services due to hypothermia. Military officers searched the river with lights, thermals and night vision goggles, but did not see any other migrants trying to cross or in danger, according to the statement.
“At no time did TMD security personnel along the river observe any migrants in distress, nor did TMD return any illegal immigrants from the United States during this period,” the Texas Military Department said. “Additionally, at no time was TMD informed of any bodies in the Shelby Park area, nor was TMD informed of any bodies discovered on the U.S. side of the border in connection with this situation.”
Political battle on the southern border
Unauthorized migration across the US southern border reached record levels in fiscal year 2023, which ended in September, surpassing 2 million for the second year in a row, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Eagle Pass, a city of about 28,000 people, is one of several border cities that has seen a dramatic increase in crossings, with thousands of migrants entering daily in recent weeks.
In 2021, Abott launched Operation Lonestar, a border security initiative that drew criticism from environmentalists, advocacy groups and lawmakers, and became the focus of multiple lawsuits challenging its constitutionality. Under the program, the state has deployed thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers to its 58 counties, including Eagle Pass, where they have been ordered to arrest and detain immigrants for trespassing into the state.
Other tactics used to deter migrants have included the deployment of concertina wire, a makeshift wall of shipping containers and a floating barrier of river buoys the size of wrecking balls equipped with serrated blades.
The drowning deaths have intensified the standoff between Texas and the federal government over border security and illegal immigration, a national issue expected to be a central feature of the 2024 election cycle.
Biden has been criticized by Republicans, who describe his border policies as weak, but also by some fellow Democrats. The Democratic mayors of New York and Chicago, among other big cities, have said services are collapsing in the face of a steady surge of immigrants and have criticized the federal government for its handling of the problem.
In Congress, Republicans have been insisting that Biden accept major changes to immigration policy, especially regarding immigrants' legal right to seek asylum in the United States. In the Senate, Republicans have insisted on a border deal as the price for voting in favor of shipping. additional aid to Ukraine, a high priority for Biden.
