White House accuses Texan guard of blocking rescue attempt

Biden administration denounces ‘dangerous’ obstruction after three ­migrants drown while attempting to cross the Rio Grande.

Texan National Guard at the disputed point on the banks of the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass lat week. Picture: AFP

The Biden administration has denounced what it said was “dangerous” obstruction by Texas authorities, after three ­migrants drowned while attempting to cross the Rio Grande river from Mexico in disputed circumstances.

“On Friday night, a woman and two children drowned near Eagle Pass, and Texas officials blocked US Border Patrol from attempting to provide emergency assistance,” said White House spokesman Angelo Fernandez Hernandez, who then went on to severely criticise Texas state ­governor Greg Abbott.

“While we continue to gather facts about the circumstances of these tragic deaths, one thing is clear: Governor Abbott’s political stunts are cruel, inhumane, and dangerous. US Border Patrol must have access to the border to enforce our laws,” he said.

The Texas Military Department pushed back later on Sunday, describing the accusation that TMD officers prevented federal agents from saving lives as “wholly inaccurate”.

The White House has been locked in a legal struggle with the republican governor, a supporter of Donald Trump and a fierce critic of the Biden administration’s migration policies.

The federal Justice Department has accused the governor of blocking federal agents from carrying out their duties in policing a key section of the border, while Mr Abbott says the federal government has failed in its ­responsibility to stem a record influx of migrants.

Mr Abbott has supported tough border measures including the installation of barbed wire along the border and floating obstacles in the Rio Grande.

Henry Cuellar, a congressional Democrat from Texas, on Saturday accused the state’s National Guard — which this week took exclusive control over a key border sector — of refusing to “grant access to Border Patrol agents to save the migrants”. “This is a tragedy, and the state bears responsibility,” Mr Cuellar said.

The TMD, which oversees the Texas National Guard, offered a substantially different version of the events on Friday. It confirmed that Border Patrol officials contacted it on Friday night “in reference to a migrant distress situation”, adding that one of its units “actively searched the river with lights and night ­vision goggles” but found no migrants in distress, and no bodies.

On Sunday after reviewing circumstances of the fatalities, TMD denied the White House accusations and said the incident largely took place on the Mexican side of the river.

“Claims that TMD prevented Border Patrol from saving the lives of drowning migrants are wholly inaccurate,” it said. “At the time that Border Patrol requested access, the drownings had occurred, Mexican Authorities were recovering the bodies, and Border Patrol expressed these facts to the TMD personnel on site.”

In December, a federal ­appeals court blocked Border Patrol from dismantling barbed wire installed by Texas near Eagle Pass, except in the case of emergencies. The Justice Department has appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court.

The Texas National Guard has begun installing new barriers which have prevented federal ­officers from gaining access to a key 3.7km border section.

AFP