Texas is launching an investigation into a state trooper’s claims that officers were instructed to push migrants back into the Rio Grande River and not give them water, despite dangerous temperatures in Eagle Pass.
The Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed to The Hill the Texas Office of Inspector General is investigating the trooper’s allegations, noting, “There is not a directive or policy that instructs Troopers to withhold water from migrants or push them back into the river.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) began deploying buoys in the middle of the Rio Grande River earlier this July as part of his latest push to secure the border with Mexico. The buoys are supposed to serve as floating barriers to prevent people from swimming across the river and into the United States.
In a July 3 email shared with The Hill by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS), the concerned trooper-medic said he and other trooper-medics came across an “exhausted and tired” group of 120 people camped out along the fence line. The trooper said the shift officer in command ordered the troopers “to push the people back into the water to go to Mexico.” When troopers voiced their concerns about drowning to the command, the trooper said he was told to “tell them to go to Mexico and get into our vehicle and leave.”
The Houston Courrier was the first to report on the email.
The trooper told Texas DPS of four people he treated on the same day, including:
- A 4-year-old girl who tried to cross the razor wire but was pushed back by Texas Guard soldiers in temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. He claimed she later passed out due to exhaustion.
- A man who had a laceration to one of his legs from what he claims was the razor wire.
- A 15-year-old boy who broke his right leg while trying to avoid the razor wire.
- A 19-year-old woman who was stuck in the razor wire while having a miscarriage.
“With the causality wire running for several miles along the river in areas where it is easier for people to cross […] It forces people to cross in other areas that are deeper and not as safe for people carrying kids and bags,” the trooper wrote in the email.
The trooper claimed five people drowned in the same week near the buoys, including a mother and two children who attempted to cross over a more treacherous part of the river.
In a separate email shared with The Hill, officials from the Texas DPS discussed an “increase of injuries” from the wire, with the agency’s director, Steven McCraw, pushing for a review of safety measures.
“The smugglers care not if the migrants are injured, but we do, and we must take all the necessary measures to mitigate the risk to them including injuries from trying [to] cross over from the concertina wire, drownings and dehydration,” McCraw wrote in an email chain.
Abbott on Tuesday addressed the trooper’s concerns in a joint statement with Texas Border Czar Mike Banks, McCraw and Texas Adjutant General Major General Thomas Suelzer.
“No orders or directions have been given under Operation Lone Star that would compromise the lives of those attempting to cross the border illegally,” reads the statement from the governor’s office. “The Texas Department of Public Safety and Texas Military Department continue taking steps to monitor migrants in distress, provide appropriate medical attention when needed, and encourage them to use one of the 29 international bridges along the Texas-Mexico Border where they can safely and legally cross.”
The statement also addressed the claims of withholding water, stating, “All personnel assigned to Operation Lone Star are prepared to detect and respond to any individuals who may need water or medical attention.”
The Hill has reached out to the Texas Office of Inspector General for comment.