Search for Texas National Guard soldier feared drowned in the Rio Grande called off for the night
Search is temporarily suspended for Texas National Guard soldier feared drowned in the Rio Grande while saving a migrant woman
A Texas National Guard soldier is now missing after trying to save a migrant woman who was crossing the border through the Rio GrandeOn Friday evening the search was called off for the night, but the hunt is expected to resume on Saturday morning The unidentified soldier entered the water near Eagle Pass, a border town 143 miles southwest of San Antonio, at 8:30 am CT, trying to save the migrantPolice reportedly recovered a walkie talkie and body armor belonging to the soldier Friday afternoon, more than two hours after he went into the water
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The Texas National Guard has called off for the night the search for a soldier believed to have drowned in the Rio Grande while trying to save a migrant woman he thought was in trouble.
The Texas Military Department said that it is hopeful the search will resume on Saturday.
‘We will continue the search for our Soldier until we have exhausted all possible resources,’ they said.
‘We are in the process of notifying the next of kin regarding the missing Soldier.’
The sheriff of Maverick County said on Friday that the Guardsman, who has yet to be identified, entered the water when he noticed a group of migrants attempting to cross the river and a female member of the group that appeared to be in distress.
Texas State Police have since said that the soldier drowned.
‘He dove in to get her, and he never came back up,’ said Sheriff Tom Schmerber, speaking to DailyMail.com on Friday.
He said the soldier jumped into a portion of the river in Eagle Pass, Texas – a border town 143 miles southwest of San Antonio – in an attempt to save the woman around 8:30 am CT.
Schmerber was called to the scene more than an hour after the soldier failed to resurface.
‘That area of the river is very dangerous this time of year,’ he told DailyMail.com.
‘Very strong tides and currents. He did not resurface.’
A Texas National Guard soldier is now missing after trying to save a migrant woman crossing the border over the Rio Grande. Pictured are Military Department and Border Patrol officials at the scene in Texas Friday at 11:13 am CT, less than two hours after the trooper went into the water. The soldier has yet to be located
The missing Guardsman reportedly jumped into a portion of the river in Eagle Pass – a border town 143 miles southwest of San Antonio – in an attempt to save the woman at 8:30 am CT
Deputies recovered a walkie talkie and body armor belonging to the soldier on Friday afternoon, more than two hours after he went into the water, Schmerber said.
Sheriff Schmerber told DailyMail.com that it was unlikely the officer was still alive.
‘After more than three hours, it is very doubtful,’ he said.
Schmerber also revealed that the migrant, swimming across the river with several others when the Guardman jumped into action, was not actually drowning, and only appeared to be struggling with the strong current.
‘She successfully made it to the US side of the river herself, where she was taken into Border Patrol custody,’ where she remained Friday afternoon, Schmerber said.
The rest of her group, the sheriff revealed, were sent by border officials back to Mexico.
The area serves as a common crossing point for migrants entering the country from Mexico.
Officials from the Military Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, and Border Patrol are currently combing the river to track down the trooper, who was still missing more than three hours after the attempted rescue
It is not yet clear how many migrants the soldier was attempting to save. Pictured is the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass in 2019. Border patrol vehicles can be seen on the US side of the river, which serves as a common crossing point for migrants crossing from Mexico
The rescue attempt comes as the Biden Administration continues to struggle with the US’ escalating border crisis, which has seen a record 221,303 migrants apprehended by border officials last month – 55,409 more than the month prior.
The number eclipsed a previous record set in July 2021, where US Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) apprehended 213,593 migrants.
Illegal immigration has soared since Joe Biden assumed office early last year, with more 1 million migrant encounters recorded in the first half of Fiscal Year 2022, according to the CBP – a pace that would see the US record a record 2 million encounters by the end of the fiscal year.
Since October 1, 2021 – the start of fiscal year 2022 – border officers have recorded 1,060,954 incidents with migrants. CBP documented 164,847 interdictions in October; 174,846 in November; and closed out December with 179,252 incidents.
CBP documented 164,847 interdictions in October; 174,846 in November; and closed out December with 179,252 incidents.
Encounters tailed off in January when 154,812 were reported before spiking up to 165,894 in February.
Las year’s fiscal year saw a still-marked 1,734,686 interdictions – a number that’s expected to rise, when the president repeals Trump-era policy Title 42, a law designed to immediately expel migrants to protect the US from COVID, early next month.
The looming policy shift has sparked fears that a further 500,000 migrants a month could begin making the sometimes perilous crossing, often through the raging Rio Grande, which covers a sprawling 1,255 mile segment of the US-Mexico border.
U.S. Border Patrol agents encountered 187 migrants after they illegally crossed the border with Mexico near Eagle Pass, Texas, on March 27. A reported released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on Monday revealed there were 221,303 encounters with migrants in all of March
Title 42 is lifted next month. Pictured: Customs and Border Protection agents struggle with an asylum seeker from Russia in El Paso, Texas on April 14, 2022
Last month reached a new high of illegal immigrant crossing with CBP encountering 221,303 migrants. It was a new high from July of 2021, when apprehensions reached 213,593
When Title 42 does end, reports indicate that there are somewhere around 170,000 migrants waiting on the Mexican side of the border and prepared to immediately head towards the US to claim asylum.
Two sources familiar with planning told CNN that Biden’s administration is preparing to offer vaccines to migrants taken into custody at the U.S.-Mexico border as warnings of an influx mount.
A report earlier this month showed that at least 5,000 migrants are prepared to immediately – and illegally – cross into the US once the Trump-era coronavirus provision ends.
The White House has not yet commented on the Guardsman’s disappearance.
The oldest-ever US president has seen his approval numbers plummet to record lows in recent months, following a chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, rising consumer and gas prices, record rates of inflation, and the influx of migrants at the country’s Southern border.
The latest Gallup survey released on Friday revealed that only 41 percent of US adults approve of the job Biden is doing after a year in office, confirming previous surveys that depicted the president’s poor approval rate.
Fifty-six percent of those surveyed in the Gallup poll said they disapprove of Biden’s performance as president – a stark about-face from the 57 percent approval rate the president boasted upon entering office in January 2021.
Gallup noted that Biden’s current average approval rating is lower than all previous presidents in the post World War II-era with the exception of Donald Trump, who had 39.1 percent favorability ratings during his first year in office.
