Houston Chronicle: DPS troopers told to push children back into the Rio Grande River

Townhall Media/Julio Rosas

Color me skeptical. The Houston Chronicle is reporting that a DPS trooper leaked an email from July 3 that instructs DPS officers on ways to physically stop illegal immigrants from crossing the Rio Grande River into Texas. The orders include pushing small children and nursing babie back into the river. They have been instructed not to give any water to the migrants, too.

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The DPS trooper leaked the email because of the “inhumane” nature of the email. If true, most people would think the instructions are inhumane. The email was reviewed by Hearst Newspapers. (The Houston Chronicle is owned by Hearst.) Allegedly the trooper witnessed incidents in Eagle Pass, where there are miles of razor wire to prevent migrants from coming in to Texas. The email states that buoys in the buoy barrier in the river are covered with razor wire.

If you are a regular reader here, you know that I write about the southern border frequently. Very frequently. I keep up with the Biden border crisis. Frankly, this is the first I’m reading of razor wire on buoys. Have I missed that tidbit of information? I don’t know. Allegedly there are “traps” made of razor wire that are there in the Rio Grande River. The purpose of the release of the email seems to be a way for the trooper to be a whistleblower and point out some bad things that have happened along the river.

According to the email, a pregnant woman having a miscarriage was found late last month caught in the wire, doubled over in pain. A four-year-old girl passed out from heat exhaustion after she tried to go through it and was pushed back by Texas National Guard soldiers. A teenager broke his leg trying to navigate the water around the wire and had to be carried by his father.

The email, which the trooper sent to a superior, suggests that Texas has set “traps” of razor wire-wrapped barrels in parts of the river with high water and low visibility. And it says the wire has increased the risk of drownings by forcing migrants into deeper stretches of the river.

The trooper called for a series of rigorous policy changes to improve safety for migrants, including removing the barrels and revoking the directive on withholding water.

“Due to the extreme heat, the order to not give people water needs to be immediately reversed as well,” the trooper wrote, later adding: “I believe we have stepped over a line into the inhumane.”

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DPS has not released a statement, as of yet, to this story that was published last night, but a spokesman denied the no-water directive. Travis Considine did provide a couple off emails from DPS Director Steven McCraw. He calls for an audit to see if more can be done to lessen the risk to migrants. McCraw said the troopers should warn them not to try to cross the wire, to redirect them to legal ports of entry, and to closely monitor for injured people who need medical attention. One email acknowledges an increase in injuries. There were seven incidents mentioned that Border Patrol reported when migrants needed “elevated medical attention” during the period between July 4 to July 13.

McCraw explained the purpose of the razor wire.

“The purpose of the wire is to deter smuggling between the ports of entry and not to injure migrants,” McCraw wrote. “The smugglers care not if the migrants are injured, but we do, and we must take all necessary measures to mitigate the risk to them including injuries from trying to cross over the concertina wire, drownings and dehydration.”

The Feds are against the razor wire, too. Federal Border Patrol officials warn that razor wire prevents them from getting to the migrants to help them and the razor wire increases the risk of drownings. The ‘whistleblower’ agrees that the razor wire “forces people to cross in other areas that are deeper and not as safe for people carrying kids and bags.”

I don’t believe that DPS troopers have been ordered to push children and babies back into the river. I’ve seen too many videos of Border Patrol agents and DPS troopers going into the water and rescuing migrants from harm. The no-water order is crazy. It is hot in Texas most of the year and in summer, it gets unbearable. Hydration is essential to stay alive. I can’t help but think that this leaked email is meant to twist the narrative to make DPS the bad guys here. And, it’s to ding Governor Abbott for trying all he can to secure the border. The law enforcement officers, whether DPS or Border Patrol, are not the bad guys. Their job is to patrol and secure the border, and that includes discouraging illegal immigration.

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Open borders are the demise of our sovereign nation. There are legal ports of entry for immigrants to use. It’s the law. No matter how rough third world citizens may claim to have it, they don’t get to make up their own rules and force their way into the United States.

Naturally, Robert Francis “Beto” O’Rourke is weighing in this morning. He wants Biden to “stop” Governor Abbott from doing what he is doing. Doesn’t O’Rourke know by now that Biden doesn’t care about what is happening on the border? When Beto ran for governor, he admitted that Biden has been a disaster for the border. Now he expects Biden to do something? Anything for a little publicity, that’s how Beto operates.

I’ll keep an eye on this story and will update if any new developments arise. I’m just not falling for the drama. I don’t deny that migrants are injured or even die while attempting to cross the border but that has been happening forever. It’s worse in the Biden years because of the humanitarian crisis and how the cartels have taken control of sections of the border on the Mexican side. It was happening long before razor wire went up.

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