EAGLE PASS, Texas – The surge in migrant drownings in Eagle Pass has “overwhelmed” local mortuaries and funeral homes, requiring the border town’s fire department to request refrigerators to store bodies, the agency’s chief told Fox News.
“There are so many bodies being recovered that the morticians are asking for assistance,” Eagle Pass Fire Department Chief Manuel Mello III, said. “I had never seen so many drownings like we’re seeing right now.”
“We do a body recovery daily,” Mello continued. “It’s very traumatic for my personnel.”
The Del Rio sector of the southern border has seen over 376,000 migrant encounters since October 2021, averaging out to nearly 1,100 per day, according to Customs and Border Protection. Across the entire border, there have been 1.8 million encounters over the past 11 months.