State officers and National Guard members have been denying U.S. Border Patrol agents entry to the 47-acre Shelby Park. Border Patrol agents learned Friday evening six migrants were in distress. Cuellar said that Border Patrol made multiple attempts to relay the information to state agents, first unsuccessfully via telephone and again verbally at the park’s entrance gate.
“Texas Military Department soldiers stated they would not grant (Border Patrol) access to the migrants – even in the event of an emergency – and that they would send a soldier to investigate the situation,” Cuellar said in the statement on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The bodies of the three migrants, a female adult and two children, were recovered by Mexican authorities on Saturday morning, Cuellar said. Officials have not yet released the names or any other information on the deceased.
Charge the state officers and National Guard members with murder–at the federal level. The state conspired to stop the CBP, thus a federal crime.
With the guv’nuh as accessory.
-IGU-
This time, I say let them secede.
Nobody is stopping them from leaving the US for “a better country”. They can “sell their stuff” and leave. So the ONLY reason they stay is because this is the “best of all AVAILABLE choices to them”–per them.
It seems the drowning occurred on the Mexican side of the border. From the OP link:
"The Texas Military Department issued a statement Saturday evening acknowledging that they were contacted by Border Patrol on Friday night alerting them to a ‘migrant distress situation,’ but after searching the river with lights and night vision goggles they were unable to find any migrants.
" ‘At no time did TMD security personnel along the river observe any distressed migrants, nor did TMD turn back any illegal immigrants from the US during this period,’ the statement said. ‘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.’
“The bodies of the three migrants were recovered by Mexican authorities on Saturday morning, Cuellar said.”
DB2
DB2
According to the news last night, Texas state officials are saying it never happened.
Steve
Well, three people drowned in Mexico. Apparently when the Border Patrol contacted Texas state officials the bodies were already being recovered by the Mexican authorities.
DB2
The article doesn’t say where the drownings occurred. It only says where the bodies were recovered. This is a river. It’s very likely that the event happened over an area, not in a single location.
What I see in the article is a presentation of the two sides of the story. Border Patrol says they were aware of people in distress. The Texas Military Department says they couldn’t find anyone in distress. Both of these can be true at the same time.
As to the tweet from Ali Bradley - I give very little weight to anything posted outside of known news outlets. Yes, she is a reporter for NewsNation, who appear to be a pretty factual news source. But this is her personal account, and I can’t find any corroboration (in an admittedly brief search) from any other source.
The one thing that is clear is that a mother and two children died. No one should take comfort in that.
–Peter
More information will probably be released, maybe Mexico will release the time of death. Initial police press releases are sometimes inaccurate, and the TMD statements look odd and inconsistent.
“TMD was contacted by Border Patrol at approximately 9 p.m. on Friday in reference to a migrant distress situation.”
“At the time that Border Patrol requested access, the drownings had occurred”
“At approximately 9:45 p.m., 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.”
“Earlier today, Saturday, January 13, 2024, the three migrant bodies were recovered by Mexican authorities.”
=== links ===
https://tmd.texas.gov/update-tmd-investigation-into-migrant-drownings-2024-01-14
https://tmd.texas.gov/migrant-drownings-near-eagle-pass-2024-01-13
https://cuellar.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=409017
“On Friday night, Border Patrol identified six migrants in the Rio Grande who were in distress near the park, known as Shelby Park… Mexican officials recovered three bodies on Saturday… A U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press, said Cuellar’s description of the events was accurate… The state National Guard soldiers ended their search after detecting Mexican officials “responding to an incident on the Mexico side of the river bank”.”
You can drown in a lot less than 45 minutes. Of course, that timeline says the Border Patrol became aware of the situation at 9. When were the Texas authorities aware of the situation?
Wouldn’t be the first time Texas authorities stood by while a Hispanic drowned.
Yes, the drownings occurred a hour earlier. From the DoJ filing with the Supreme Court:
“On January 12, 2024, at approximately 9:00 p.m., Mexican officials advised Border Patrol of two migrants in distress on the U.S. side of the river in the area near the Shelby Park boat ramp. Mexican officials also informed Border Patrol that three migrants – one woman and two children – had drowned at approximately 8:00 p.m. in the same area.”
DB2
The question remains, where were the Texas authorities, who occupy that park, while all this was going on?
Steve
In the park where they were supposed to be?
DB2
So, if the people in distress were on the Texas side of the river, near the park’s boat launch, and Texas authorities were in the park, why didn’t they do anything to help the people in distress? They were apparently there to prevent Border Patrol intervening.
Steve
So where were the crossers? At the park? Upstream? Downstream? Do we have a map of the area?
DB2
Seems to me that the details of the drowning are one thing, but bottom line here is that the Texas National Guard is blocking Border Patrol access to the border. That can’t be acceptable.
If anyone thought Texas could not embarrass itself any further:
Which is why the DoJ filed with the Supreme Court.
DB2