Three migrants, a woman and two children, drowned Saturday in the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas – very recently the epicenter of the migrant crisis – just days after state authorities blocked the US Border Patrol from accessing miles of the US-Mexico border, according to a post on X by Rep. Henry Cuellar.

“This is a tragedy, and the State bears responsibility,” Cuellar, a Democrat from Texas, said on X, formally known as Twitter.

The congressman said Border Patrol learned a group of six migrants were in distress in the Rio Grande at about 9 p.m. on Friday.

Border Patrol called the Texas Military Department, the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety but “were unsuccessful” at relaying the information by phone, Cuellar said in the social media post. Federal agents then went to the gate at Shelby Park, set up by Texas authorities, to provide the information, Cuellar said.

“However, Texas Military Department soldiers stated they would not grant access to the migrants – even in the event of an emergency – and that they would send a soldier to investigate the situation,” Cuellar said on X.

  • thefartographer@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Shocking story from the state that gleefully kills mothers with their pregnancy nightmares.

    I sometimes question if I’m really having any true impact here. Am I really trying to shape the next generation to build a better tomorrow or am I just scared that I’m undereducated and unqualified to find employment in a better state?

    • NightAuthor@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Por que no los dos?

      I just moved out of state about a year ago, so far so great. But check back w me after I do my taxes.

      But honestly, if you can find work in Texas, you can probably find work elsewhere, and it will likely even pay better. Unless you’re in some Texas specific industry.

        • Ranvier
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          1 year ago

          This is an important point.

          Here’s a map of tax burden by state:

          https://wallethub.com/edu/states-with-highest-lowest-tax-burden/20494

          Income tax isn’t everything.

          Even this map though isn’t quite telling the whole story. If you’re in a state like Texas relying on things like sales, excise, or other regressive taxes for the majority of tax revenue, lower income people will be paying a higher share than richer people. Income tax is progressive, so lower income people pay lower rates. Whereas your sales or excise or other regressive taxes are proportionally hitting lower income people more than higher income. So the states without income tax are often the hardest on people with low or middle incomes. Not to mention that taxes may be paying for a more robust social safety net that you may need at some point.

          • TigrisMorte@kbin.social
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            1 year ago

            “Income tax is progressive” should be, but the wealthy have been given break after break and loop holes to avoid paying making the Income Tax far more regressive than it was Sixty Years ago. Add in the no services as there isn’t money to pay for them and you’ve got the perfect environment for keeping wage slaves from gaining anything.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              It’s funny how conservatives idolize the 1950s but never mention the top tax bracket in the 1950s was taxed at 91%.

          • TheMusicalFruit@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Great data thanks for sharing. I had to reference stats like this during a recent argument with family about taxes. The conservatives have done a great job convincing people that states like Texas and Florida are some sort of taxless wonderlands. We live in Pennsylvania, when I showed them that the Pennsylvania tax burden was lower than Texas in most metrics they shut up real fast. As we enter this election cycle, we all need to be backing our arguments with data like this. While they might not acknowledge they are wrong, it MIGHT get them thinking.

      • Gingernate@programming.dev
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        1 year ago

        I moved out of Texas and pay less taxes. But there are a few higher states in the northeast I think, maybe NY not sure

    • yeather@lemmy.ca
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      1 year ago

      You’re more than likely making zero difference. The parents of the children will shape their minds more than one teacher depending on the grade. Especially at younger ages like 16- you have no impact on their political beliefs. If you have a teaching degree and are working in Texas you will be able to find a job in most other states, good luck.

        • yeather@lemmy.ca
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          1 year ago

          The person asked if they were making any difference educating children in Texas and making better people. My response was no unless you were dealing with students 16 and over and had a significant impsct on their lives in and out of the classroom. They then worried they were undereducated and underqualified to work in other states and I responded a teaching degree and experience in Texas would be plenty in any state. Finally i wished them good luck.

            • yeather@lemmy.ca
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              1 year ago

              Below that age you get to junior high or freshman year, you don’t really get the chance to communicate any political beliefs or sway any minds during those years. Below 16 and parental influence is also much stronger. When you hit 16, you get your license and usually more freedom from your parents. It also seemed in my experience when teachers would be more open to you about their own beliefs and have the ability to express why they think a certain way.

              • squirmy_wormy@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                People are influenced outside of school at all ages. The communities they interact with affect who they are. This is a foundational argument of many socioeconomic models. Any time a person sees another react in some way - good or bad - it influences them.

    • menthol@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I would say so, but at the very least criminally negligent homicide. But this is Texas we’re talking about, so they’ll probably pin a medal on these guys.

      Also wtf is Texas Military Department? They have their own army?

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Can’t be. Texas is pro-life, remember? That’s why they made it illegal to have an abortion even if it will likely kill both mother and fetus.

  • yeather@lemmy.ca
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    1 year ago

    So at what point and why should we start helping them to break the law. Border patrol should not help you in any case where you’re illegally entering the country willingly. Which there is an argument for the kids they weren’t willingly entering the country, but either way why should it be on US border patrol to help people in Mexico trying to illegally enter.

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        1 year ago

        https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/seeking-protection-how-us-asylum-process-works

        To be an asylum seeker in the United States you must apply for asylum at one of 328 official ports of entry or from within the country already. Unless rainfall has been really bad there is no legal port of entry underwater. This person is therefore an illegal immigrant breaking the law, not an asylum seeker following the laws of the country they wish to integrate into.

        https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/can-safe-third-country-agreements-resolve-asylum-crisis

        In addition, many are denied for breaking another asylum seeking rule. You must seek asylum in the closest safe country. In most cases for immigrants like the woman and childrent that is Brazil, Guatemala, Panama, Mexico, and El Salvador. Any “asylum seeker” going through safe countries to reach the US is breaking the law and is not a real asylum seeker. The US border patrol has no obligation to save people illegally entering the country through unsafe routes, endangering Americans.

    • gedaliyah@lemmy.worldM
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      Sounds a lot like “it’s better for people to die rather than to go from one place to another without the correct documents.”

      Like all law enforcement agencies, CBP is interested in maintaining order. It is better for them to apprehend and process those crossing the border without documentation than to deliberately make the crossing more dangerous.

      Not everyone who enters the USA without a visa is breaking the law. Not all types of illegal immigration are the same. The only way to make that determination is by apprehending undocumented migrants.

      • yeather@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Not American soil, not America’s problem. Let Mexican border patrol deal with it.

        • shalafi@lemmy.world
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          That does bring up the question of why Mexico isn’t giving aid.

          I love Mexicans, and I love immigrants, even the illegal ones. But shouldn’t Mexico play some role here? Why is the border all America’s legal responsibility?

          (And if anyone wants to argue that those Mexicans are running here because our drug habits are fueling Mexican cartels, I’m all with ya. Yes, even you weed smokers contribute.)

    • nomous@lemmy.world
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      Border patrol should not help you in any case where you’re illegally entering the country willingly.

      I disagree with this premise.

      • yeather@lemmy.ca
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        https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/seeking-protection-how-us-asylum-process-works

        To be an asylum seeker in the United States you must apply for asylum at one of 328 official ports of entry or from within the country already. Unless rainfall has been really bad there is no legal port of entry underwater. This person is therefore an illegal immigrant breaking the law, not an asylum seeker following the laws of the country they wish to integrate into.

        https://www.cfr.org/in-brief/can-safe-third-country-agreements-resolve-asylum-crisis

        In addition, many are denied for breaking another asylum seeking rule. You must seek asylum in the closest safe country. In most cases for immigrants like the woman and childrent that is Brazil, Guatemala, Panama, Mexico, and El Salvador. Any “asylum seeker” going through safe countries to reach the US is breaking the law and is not a real asylum seeker. The US border patrol has no obligation to save people illegally entering the country through unsafe routes, endangering Americans.

        Womp womp, unless they’re cuban or similar island nation they have a closer safe country. They aren’t asylum seekers they illegal immigrants attempting to thwart the laws of the very country they want into. Illegal immigrants have neither my sympathy nor my support, border patrol should make no attempt to help them break into the country, especially if they are across the border in Mexico.

        • Bernie_Sandals@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          “Or from within the country already”

          This involves coming in the country illegally and then having that be retroactively legal when they declare Asylum status, that is how it works in our and every other country that observes international law.

          The “safe” country exemption is preposterous and arguably illegal under international law too, there’s a reason even people from so called “safe” countries like Mexico flee to the US.

          • yeather@lemmy.ca
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            11 months ago

            You can enter the country legally and then apply for asylum status. That right is available at any legal border crossing into the United States. Also, reread the original news article and you’ll see the woman was not in the US yet but was actively attempting to break the law. US border patrol has no obligation to help someone in Mexico break into the US.

            On your second point, are these international laws the United States has signed and agreed to? Similar to how the ICJ works, the US has no legal obligation to follow “international law” that it didnt agree to.