Houston – A Texas National Guard member went missing and is believed to have drowned in the Rio Grande on Friday while stationed along the river as part of a mission ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott to help prevent illegal border crossings, according to two officials informed about the issue.
The Texas Department of War said in a brief statement that the member of the guard “disappeared along the river during a mission incident” as part of his assignment to the border mission known as Operation Lone Star. “The soldier was not found,” the ministry said, adding that an active search was under way.
By afternoon, helicopters, boats and divers were searching in and around the section of the river where he was last seen, an area known for frequent migrant crossings and dangerous conditions.
The guard, who was not immediately named, was trying to rescue a migrant woman while she was fighting in the water, according to one of the officers, Sheriff Tom Schmerber of Maverick County, which includes the town of Eagle Pass, where the incident took place.
The woman crossed as part of a relatively small group of migrants on Friday morning, the sheriff said. The Guardsman, believed to be in his early 20s, came in to help her and appears to have been pulled out of the current around 8:30 a.m., the sheriff said. The woman survived and managed to cross the river to the United States, he said.
“It’s very dangerous, this river, the Rio Grande, it’s very complicated,” said Sheriff Schmerber, a former U.S. border patrol officer.
The sheriff said the county had recently seen about two drownings of migrants a week. But drowning any law enforcement officer during border operations is significantly less common. “When I was on the border patrol, we were advised never to jump after anyone,” he said.
According to an initial report of the incident, prepared by the Guard and received by The New York Times, the guard saw the person drown, took off his bulletproof vest and “jumped” to try to save. “The soldier did not reappear” just before 10 a.m., the report said, and his team “lost visibility.”
On Monday, Mr Abbott issued a brief statement saying his office “continues to work with the Texas National Guard and other law enforcement agencies while searching for the missing soldier”.
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The apparent drowning comes at a time of heated political debate over how to deal with the wave of migrants on the southern border and whether to end the Trump-era public health rule that allowed federal agents to quickly return many migrants who arrived. at the border during the coronavirus pandemic.
This rule, known as Title 42, is expected to expire in late May, although President Biden is under pressure from Republicans and some Democrats to extend it. Federal officials are preparing for an influx of about 18,000 migrants a day after the end of Title 42.
On Friday, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Biden administration over its decision to end the 42nd trial, which allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants, including asylum seekers, to be returned immediately across the border with Mexico. .
Mr Paxton’s case calls for an urgent policy order.
Mr Abbott said the Biden administration had done little to protect the border from illegal crossings, which had risen last year, and he had sharply increased the number of state law enforcement officials on the Mexican border.
Last year, Mr. Abbott, a two-term Republican who will be re-elected in the fall, ordered thousands of Texas National Guard troops to patrol the border, a mission expected to cost more than $ 2 billion a year.
But members of the guard cannot arrest migrants for federal immigration crimes and, above all, act as observers and support for the border patrol, directing migrants to federal agents when they meet them. Some members of the guard described the state’s deployment as hastily organized, unorganized and politically motivated.
At the same time, the number of migrants killed or reported missing while trying to cross into the United States rose sharply last year, with more than 600 deaths reported by the International Organization for Migration.
Tiffany Burrow, director of the Val Verde Border Humanitarian Coalition, said that although many migrants had died in the often dangerous river currents, the Guardsman’s apparent drowning on Friday demonstrated the dangers to law enforcement.
“The border patrol and security are in danger at such times,” Ms Burrow said.
A group of Republicans, members of Congress, including Representative Kevin McCarthy, the minority leader in the House, and Representative Tony Gonzalez, who represents the district, were expected to visit Eagle Pass on Monday and planned to meet with federal immigration officials and law enforcement officials. , including the National Guard.
On Friday, Mr Gonzalez published a photo of a protective vest lying on the ground, saying that “the brave National Guard took off his armor before jumping into dangerous waters to save lives.”
Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas Jr. said the area where the guard entered the water is a common place for migrants to cross the river, but also one of the most dangerous in the area.
By early afternoon, he said, a Border Patrol diving team was still in the water searching for the body of the guard, who he said was about 22 years old.
The mayor said that when the year began, the border area, which includes both the Eagle Pass and the city of Del Rio, saw several hundred people pass through each day. But in the last month, Mr Salinas said, that number has risen to at least 1,000 a day.
“It’s being rushed here,” Mr Salinas said. “With the repeal of Title 42, we fear it will be even double or triple.”
The missing guard, he added, “is trying to do a good deed.”
But some members of the Texas National Guard said they had not been properly trained to deal with the rapid currents of the Rio Grande.
After the guard was swept away, senior leaders told members not to try to save migrants. Water units usually have “throw ropes” and use them to help people in need in the water instead of entering the water on their own, especially if they don’t have a life jacket, said a security guard assigned to Operation Lone Star. It was not clear whether the Guardsman who had entered the water had one.
The soldiers were told Monday that they would soon receive more training in water operations, the member, who wished to remain anonymous, said in a statement. The river level appears to be high, the article added, making it potentially more dangerous.
Edgar Sandoval reported from San Antonio.
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