Rio Grande border in Eagle Pass, Texas.Photo:SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty
SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty
Texas Troopers working for Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security initiative were allegedly ordered not to give water to migrants along the border in Eagle Pass, according to a report.
The medic described the orders as “inhumane” in the emails, sent from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), and called for the orders from supervisors to be “immediately reversed.”
Houston Chroniclefirst reported the emails, which covered the operation from June 24 to July 1.
Texas Troopers have been working on border.SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty
A fatal case was reported the next day as a mother and her two children were pulled from the water after being under for roughly a minute. They had attempted to cross the river without a wire and were later pronounced dead in a hospital.
During a separate shift, 120 people, including young children and babies, were found camping outside, in temperatures of 108 degrees in the shade. Medics claimed they were ordered again to push them back in the water, but felt it was “not the correct thing to do” and argued against the command. They were eventually ordered to leave the area, the trooper recalled in the email.
A woman holds her child along border.SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty
“I believe we have stepped over a line into the inhumane,” the medic wrote, per CNN. “We need to recognize that these are people who are made in the image of God and need to be treated as such.”
According to the email, the trooper shared concerns over the safety of the casualty wire. “The casualty wire needs to provide protection to the state and provide a safe means of travel on solid land to proper collection points,” they wrote. “The wire also needs to be manned and patrolled constantly to provide security for these families who are seeking refuge."
The trooper added: “The wire and barrels in the river needs to be taken out as this is nothing but a in humane [sic] trap in high water and low visibility."
According to CNN, DPS spokesman Travis Considine was not able to confirm or comment on the matter. Considine told the outlet that the Office of the Inspector General is investigating the situation, andtweeted Monday night:“Troopers give migrants water. They treat their wounds. They save them from drowning. They also do everything possible to deter them from risking their lives in the first place."
Escalon said that troopers should keep communicating with migrants “via personnel verbal commands, LRADS (long-range acoustic devices), and signage, about the dangers of crossing the Rio Grande into the United States.”
He added that troopers need to “remind migrants to turn themselves into the ports of entry on the Mexican side.”
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Andrew Mahaleris, a spokesperson for Abbott, released a statement toCNNamid the reporting.
“Texas is deploying every tool and strategy to deter and repel illegal crossings between ports of entry as President Biden’s dangerous open border policies entice migrants from over 150 countries to risk their lives entering the country illegally,” the statement read. “The absence of razor wire and other deterrence strategies encourages migrants to make unsafe and illegal crossings between ports of entry, while making the job of Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers more dangerous and difficult. President Biden has unleashed a chaos on the border that’s unsustainable, and we have a constitutional duty to respond to this unprecedented crisis.”
source: people.com
