Special: Nine Migrants Drown within West Texas Border River in a single Week

EAGLE PASS, Texas — Nine migrants drowned in the Rio Grande while attempting to illegally cross from Mexico to Texas in the past week. The drownings come in the midst of a recent, massive spike in traffic in the Del Rio Sector.

At least nine migrants died from drowning as they attempted to cross from Coahuila into the Eagle Pass area during the past week, according to a source operating under the umbrella of U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The source said there are likely many more deaths from drowning than have been discovered.

“Our marine unit patrols are limited along the river by water levels,” the source told Breitbart Texas on Monday. “I can hardly imagine how many drowned migrants they are not finding.”

Eagle Pass Station agents are finding approximately one drowned migrant per day during the month of April, the source said. No information on ages, sex, nationality, or identity was provided by the source.

On April 12, Breitbart Texas’ Randy Clark reported the drowning deaths of two migrant children and four adults near Eagle Pass. The six deaths occurred between Sunday and Tuesday.

On April 11, agents reported that a 14-year-old girl and an infant were swept away during a border crossing attempt. As of press time, the agents had yet to recover the bodies of the missing children.

Eagle Pass agents recovered the bodies of eight other migrants during a two-week period in March, Breitbart reported. One of these victims was a four-year-old child who was swept out of the mother’s arms by the current, 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.

Breitbart Texas reached out to CBP officials for confirmation of the number of drownings in a short period of time in this single Texas border sector. Officials responded they would not release these numbers at this time and offered no further comment.

Some migrants are fortunate and are rescued by agents patrolling the Rio Grande.

On April 13, a group of migrants entered the waters of the Rio Grande near the Camino Real International Bridge, Breitbart Texas reported. The swiftly moving currents of the border river caused the migrants to lose their footing and be scattered down the river, according to a statement from Border Patrol officials.

River unit agents made several trips and quickly deployed flotation devices and rescue ropes. They then rescued individual migrants and transported them to the riverbank where ground-based agents took them into custody.