By MARÍA VERZA and VALERIE GONZÁLEZ (Associated Press)
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican authorities mentioned Thursday {that a} Honduran migrant recognized one of many two our bodies recovered from the Rio Grande as her son.
But the 20-year-old Honduran man was not the physique discovered close to a floating barrier that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had put in within the river, throughout from Eagle Pass, Texas.
Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department mentioned a physique recovered about 3 miles upriver from the buoys was tentatively recognized because the Honduran man by his mom, however the physique was badly decomposed and fingerprint assessments could be wanted for affirmation.
The division mentioned the mom, who’s at a migrant shelter in Piedras Negras, the Mexican border city throughout from Eagle Pass, mentioned she acknowledged the tattoos on the physique as her son’s.
It mentioned there was nonetheless no phrase on the id of the second particular person whose physique was discovered within the river close to the buoys. The division mentioned no identification had been discovered on the physique, and no person had come ahead to report the sufferer.
The Coahuila state prosecutor’s workplace is working to positively establish the our bodies and decide the reason for dying.
The division reported the primary physique discovered alongside the buoys between Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras on Wednesday night, and instantly related it to the dangers Mexico had warned of earlier than the barrier was put in.
Mexico mentioned the Texas Department of Public Safety had suggested its consulate of the physique alongside the floating barrier. But it was unclear if that was the physique that finally ended up lodged in opposition to the buoys by the pressure of the river.
“Preliminary information suggests this individual drowned upstream from the marine barrier and floated into the buoys,” mentioned Steve McCraw, the DPS director. “There are personnel posted at the marine barrier at all times in case any migrants try to cross.”
Mexico and others have warned in regards to the dangers posed by the brilliant orange, wrecking ball-sized buoys placed on the Rio Grande in an effort to make it tougher for migrants to cross to the U.S. The Foreign Relations Department additionally contends the barrier violates treaties concerning the usage of the river and Mexico’s sovereignty.
“We made clear our concern about the impact on migrants’ safety and human rights that these state policies would have,” the division mentioned in its assertion Wednesday night time.
Andrew Mahaleris, spokesman for Abbott, mentioned in an announcement Thursday that “the Mexican government is flat-out wrong.” He mentioned preliminary data signifies the particular person drowned earlier than coming close to the boundaries.
He mentioned the Texas Department of Public Safety beforehand reported to U.S. immigration brokers that there was a physique floating upstream from the boundaries within the Rio Grande.
Mahaleris mentioned Texas officers monitor the boundaries and haven’t noticed anybody trying to cross since they have been put in. “Unfortunately, drownings in the Rio Grande by people attempting to cross illegally are all too common,” he mentioned.
The barrier was put in in July, and stretches roughly the size of three soccer fields. It is designed to make it tougher for migrants to climb over or swim beneath the barrier.
The U.S. Justice Department is suing Abbott over the floating barrier. The lawsuit asks a court docket to pressure Texas to take away it. The Biden administration says the barrier raises humanitarian and environmental issues.
The buoys are the newest escalation of Texas’ border safety operation that additionally consists of putting in razor-wire fencing and arresting migrants on trespassing costs.
Migrant drownings happen commonly on the Rio Grande. Over the Fourth of July weekend, earlier than the buoys have been put in, 4 individuals, together with an toddler, drowned within the river close to Eagle Pass.
Isabel Turcios, a nun who runs the Casa del Migrante shelter in Piedras Negras, mentioned migrants proceed crossing the river there though authorities put razor wire beneath the bridge connecting the 2 nations and the buoy barrier a bit farther downstream.
She mentioned they usually cross beneath the bridge the place the river is extra shallow after which stroll downstream to a gap within the razor wire. She mentioned she didn’t know if individuals nonetheless tried to cross the place the buoys have been put in downriver.
“Tons of migrants are still arriving,” Turcios mentioned. “Last night some 200 people slept (at the shelter). This morning 50 more have entered the shelter.”
She mentioned many migrants resolve to cross as a result of they really feel it takes too lengthy for U.S. authorities to course of purposes to enter the U.S. legally.
She mentioned her shelter was receiving a variety of Venezuelans, in lots of circumstances moms with kids, who cease solely briefly to wash, relaxation after which attempt to cross the river.
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González reported from McAllen, Texas. Associated Press author Acacia Coronado in Austin, Texas, contributed to this report.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”