Groups of migrants rushed across the river to avoid Mexican police and surrender in Texas Border City.
According to the reports, Mexican law enforcement and the United States joined forces after nearly 50 migrants avoided Mexican police on a remote stretch of river to surrender on the U.S side.
The joint operations occurred on Wednesday, involving state law enforcement and Texas Army National Guard soldiers, gathering two miles south of Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras to apprehend the illegal immigrants.
The operations took place after Coahuila Governor Miguel Angel Riquelme Solis and Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed an agreement in April, involving security operations that focused on a remote area south of the cities where migrant crossings are spiking.
The agreement also called for Mexico to conduct high visibility operations at busy crossing points. The agreement was held after authorities revealed over 100 immigrants to have crossed in this remote area with little resistance.
On Wednesday, the authorities disclosed that most migrants who were apprehended are Central American migrants who narrowly avoided capture by authorities in Mexico and without documentation from Mexican immigration authorities, the migrants could have faced deportation.
Meanwhile, the apprehended migrants were later sent to Border Patrol agents by the Soldiers stationed on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande for transfer to a federal processing center.
This week, US authorities counted 5 immigrants who died after attempting to cross the US-Mexico border in Texas by riding a train car. The migrants are believed to have died of extreme heat.
Two migrants have also been captured after they jumped out of a smuggler’s vehicle, resulting in injuries.
The federal officials also warned the public of the dangers of smugglers placing migrants who are unfamiliar with the US-Mexico border.
“We have trains, water canals, a border barrier system and rough terrain. The migrants don’t know the schedule of the trains, they don’t know which direction to go. That’s the situation they’re placed in by ruthless smuggling organizations,” Agent Carlos A. Rivera, a U.S. Border Patrol spokesman said.
“We definitely want people to be aware of the dangers and not place their lives in the hands of smugglers,” Rivera added.
