UPDATE: State officials deny responsibility for South Texas border drownings

McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — State officials are denying culpability for the Friday night drownings of three migrants — a mother and her two children — in the Rio Grande along Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, Texas, which a South Texas congressman says were caused after state officials refused to allow Border Patrol agents to respond to the area.

In a statement to Border Report on Saturday night, the Texas Military Department (TMD) said the Texas National Guard did nothing wrong and tried to help find the distressed migrants in the water.

“TMD was contacted by Border Patrol at approximately 9:00 pm on Friday in reference to a migrant distress situation. TMD had a unit in the vicinity of the boat ramp and actively searched the river with lights and night vision goggles. No migrants were observed,” the agency said. “At approximately 9:45 pm, TMD observed a group of Mexican authorities responding to an incident on the Mexico side of the river bank. TMD reported their observations back to Border Patrol, and they confirmed that the Mexican authorities required no additional assistance. At that time, TMD ceased search operations.”

On Sunday, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, issued a statement acknowledging that the state had responded to the incident but stressed that U.S. Border Patrol agents were blocked.

“The state did investigate the distress call and searched for the migrants in the Rio Grande,” Cuellar said. “However, the bottom line is the Border Patrol was barred from entering Shelby Park. Furthermore, Border Patrol was not allowed to investigate the situation and had not been given access to the area since last week. Our federal state and local law enforcement partners must work together and coordinate their efforts to handle the surge at the border.”

On X, formerly Twitter, Cuellar identified the woman and children as a mother and her 8-year-old daughter and 10-year-old son. He says the three bodies were recovered by Mexican authorities later that night.

He said they died Friday evening in the river trying to cross from Mexico after U.S. Border Patrol agents were not allowed entry into Shelby Park in Eagle Pass, where they wanted to launch rescue equipment to help them.

The public park was sealed off with a gate by Texas DPS and Texas Military Department on Wednesday evening at the order of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, whose office said the security measures were to ensure that migrants do not illegally enter South Texas at this location, just across the Rio Grande from Piedras Negras, Mexico.

According to the mayor of Eagle Pass and an emergency filing that the U.S. Justice Department made with the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to get access to the park, Texas officials were denying federal agents entry.

On Wednesday evening a guarded wire gate was put up on the road and in a post on social media Eagle Pass Mayor Roland Salinas said “all” entry is denied “indefinitely.”

In the court filing, the Justice Department said armed Texas National Guard members are preventing Border Patrol agents from accessing the river, and allegedly using a military Humvee to keep Border Patrol agents off the access road.

“Because Border Patrol can no longer access or view this stretch of the border, Texas has effectively prevented Border Patrol from monitoring the border,” the Justice Department wrote in a filing.

In a request to the governor’s office on Saturday for comment on the drownings, his spokeswoman referred Border Report to the Texas National Guard for information. In a statement, Texas DPS officials overnight told Border Report: “The Texas Department of Public Safety was not contacted about the situation. We would refer you to the Texas Military Department for any additional questions.”

In their statement, the Texas Military Department wrote: “At no time did TMD security personnel along the river observe any distressed migrants, nor did TMD turn back any illegal immigrants from the U.S. during this period. Also, at no point was TMD made aware of any bodies in the area of Shelby Park, nor was TMD made aware of any bodies being discovered on the U.S. side of the border regarding this situation. TMD maintains water rescue equipment and actively works with local EMS to aid migrants needing medical care.”

The incident immediately drew criticism.

“This is what Operation Lone Star looks like on the ground. Texas officials blocked U.S. Border Patrol agents from doing their job and allowed two children to drown in the Rio Grande,” U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, said. “Gov. Abbott’s inhumanity has no limit. Everyone who enables his cruelty has blood on their hands.”

DHS officials issued a statement saying “Border Patrol agents were physically barred by Texas officials from entering the area. The Texas governor’s policies are cruel, dangerous, and inhumane, and Texas’ blatant disregard for federal authority over immigration poses grave risks.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.