A nine-year-old child from Mexico has died while attempting to cross the Rio Grande river to reach the United States.
Customs and Border Protection announced the heartbreaking news on Thursday, amid a growing humanitarian crisis at the southern border sparked by Joe Biden’s reversal of Trump-era immigration policies.
The new-President’s ‘more humane’ approach to immigration has fueled a surge in the number of migrants trying to enter the United States, with several losing their lives in the process.
According to CBP officials, the nine-year-old died last Saturday and was in the company of two other people trying to cross the Rio Grande.
All three reportedly lost consciousness while wading through the water.
The two others – a grown woman from Guatamala and a three-year-old child from Mexico – were able to be revived. The nine-year-old, whose gender has not been disclosed, was pronounced dead.
A nine-year-old child from Mexico has died while attempting to cross the Rio Grande river to reach the United States last Saturday. Thousands of migrants have made the treacherous journey across the river that divides the United States and Mexico. CBP officials patrol the water on Wednesday
A group of migrants are pictured being being taken into custody after making it across the Rio Grande on Thursday
At least three migrants have drowned trying to cross the Rio Grande (pictured) within the space of four days. Border Patrol Agents have saved at least 500 migrants who have become stuck in the waters of the Rio Grande in recent months
Four days before that tragedy, two other migrants drowned in the Rio Grande.
Shocking video showed three individuals, believed to be from Honduras, struggling to stay afloat in the rushing waters.
One of the migrants could be heard saying ‘help’ in Spanish as U.S. Border Patrol agents are seen standing on the shore.
Witness Jesús Vargas told Telemundo that he used a fishing rod to help one of the migrants – a 13-year-old – out of the water.
He claimed the other two drowned due to the strong current.
CBP officials confirmed their deaths.
On March 16, , two other migrants drowned in the Rio Grande.
The body of one of the two migrants who drowned last Tuesday in the Rio Grande lies on the shallow side of the river that divides Mexico and the United States
Meanwhile, last month, an eight-year-old boy from Honduras drowned in the Rio Grande after becoming swept away in the icy waters.
He was identified as Anderson Gabriel Ramírez.
Ramírez ‘was in the company’ of a group of adults, but was not able to ‘withstand the pounding water, which covered him and kept him submerged for several meters’.
Border Patrol Agents have saved at least 500 migrants who have become stuck in the waters of the Rio Grande in recent months.
It comes as the Biden Administration faces growing criticism of its handling of the mounting crisis on the southern border.
Officials from the Biden administration have conceded that their more ‘humane’ approach to immigration policy has fueled the soaring number of border crossings.
Since taking office, Biden lifted the Trump policy that forced migrants to remain in Mexico while going through the legal process to enter the US, narrowed the ICE’s criteria for arrests and deportations and stopped the building of Trump’s border wall.
Republicans – and even some Texas state Democrats – have blasted Biden for not properly preparing the resources and infrastructure for the surge of migrants that he knew those changes would bring.
Joe Biden last night said he would not apologize for rolling back Trump’s immigration policies, despite the recent drowning deaths of migrants and the escalating crisis on the border
Migrant children have been languishing at crowded detention centers, sleeping on the floor and going without showers for days
The Biden Administration has refused to give reporters access to those overcrowded facilities, despite promising ‘transparency’. CBP officials circumvented the government by releasing these images earlier this week
Border Patrol agents found 96,974 migrants last month, up from 75,312 in January. Another 3,467 were taken into custody at ports of entry.
Numbers are continuing to increase this month, with 125,000 migrants expected to arrive along the border in March, according to current data.
That is the highest number in years – and officials fear the figure will soar even further throughout the spring.
Biden defended his policies at his first formal White House press conference on Thursday, saying he would not apologize for rolling back Trump’s policies.
He told reporters that ‘I guess I should be flattered people are coming because I’m the nice guy’.
Migrant children have been languishing at crowded detention centers, sleeping on the floor and going without showers for days.
The Biden Administration has refused to give reporters access to those overcrowded facilities, despite promising ‘transparency’.
Migrant children and teenagers are pictured waiting to board a bus after being apprehended illegally entering the US last week
Border Patrol agents found 96,974 migrants last month, up from 75,312 in January. Another 3,467 were taken into custody at ports of entry. Numbers are continuing to increase this month, with 125,000 migrants expected to arrive along the border in March, according to current data
