The migrant situation in Eagle Pass, Texas, is becoming more and more dire as the days pass. Morgues and funeral homes in the area are already overwhelmed by the number of bodies brought to them daily. Now, the Eagle Pass fire department is requesting additional refrigerators to store bodies of people who drowned as they were trying to cross into the United States.
As reported by Fox News, the Eagle Pass fire department chief, Manuel Mello III, said that he had never seen so many drownings in his lifetime and that there were so many bodies that the morticians had no choice but to ask for help. Manuel pointed out that the authorities conduct daily body recoveries and that the bodies recovered from the Rio Grande River now average 30 a day, a huge upsurge from only 12 bodies a year when he joined the force 25 years ago.
About four months ago, KENS 5 News covered a story on the influx of migrants in Eagle Pass, reporting that Del Rio sector border agents had encountered over 4,500 migrants in two days.
Over the past few months, Eagle Pass has become a migrant crossing hotspot. With families trying to escape dangerous environments in their home countries, authorities see people crossing with families, including small children, through treacherous waters.
Chief Mello added that one dangerous thing about the Rio Grande is that the river has sudden unexpected drops, and people carrying children or heavy luggage are sure to drown.
Two weeks ago, 13 migrants died while attempting to cross the Rio Grande River. Several children had also faced death in the river, with Mello narrating how a three-month-old baby and his three-year-old brother drowned when their uncle suddenly dropped into a deep hole in the river and let go of the two babies. According to Mr. Mello, the emergency calls received by his office have shot up by over 1000 to reach 8,500 from just 7,000 calls annually, and he predicts that the numbers might go up.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) states that the Del Rio sector has encountered over 350,000 migrants since October 2021. In 2022, CBP has encountered 1.8 million migrants across the entire US-Mexico border. The situation has become so overwhelming that it has started to affect the mental well-being of many border officers and personnel involved in the recovery operations. Many of them suffer emotional breakdowns and take days off to recover from witnessing so much death.
In his interview with Fox News, Mr. Mello urged the federal government to intervene and help them in the migrant situation and, if possible, stop it altogether. He said if the recovery operations continue at the same pace, Maverick County would see 300 body recoveries by the end of this year.
Chief Mello’s worries continue to grow as the weather in Texas changes and the hurricane season approaches. The Rio Grande River will become even more dangerous to cross.