US Border Patrol Pleads With Migrants to Avoid Dangerous Crossings

Facts

• The US Border Patrol has issued a “warning of extreme importance” about rising waters and dangerous river conditions after nine migrants recently drowned crossing the Rio Grande.
• Officials stated, “in an effort to prevent further loss of life, we are asking everyone to please avoid crossing illegally.” Additional rain is forecast next week.
• Last month, the US Customs and Border Protection stated that it had discovered bodies of more than 200 dead migrants from Oct. through July.
• The Rio Grande river, which was little more than three feet deep at the start of last week, reached more than five feet and was flowing five times faster than usual by week’s end.
• Of the nine fatalities, US officials recovered six bodies while Mexican officials recovered three. In addition, US crews rescued 37 migrants and detained 16 more, while Mexican authorities took 39 migrants into custody.

Sources: New York Post, Independent, ABC, and DRG.

Narratives

• Left narrative, as provided by The Guardian. People are dying as they attempt to cross the southern border because there’s no safe route into the US due to long-standing, racist immigration policies. Exclusionary laws and the multibillion-dollar obsession with keeping migrants of color out of the country must change to prevent humanitarian suffering.
• Right narrative, as provided by The Federalist. The southern border is about to explode. The ability to expel immigrants under Title 42 was the one thing stopping an even worse catastrophe, but its recent removal by the Biden administration has allowed dangerous, illegal crossings to surge. Right now, the US is processing, transporting and releasing migrants, but border officials must arrest, detain and deport them.