On a blisteringly hot Wednesday morning, I saw asylum-seeking families — including at least four babies — stuck on the Texas side of the river under rows of concertina razor wire. One woman was vomiting due to dehydration, while a male companion offered her water from the muddy Rio Grande. Heavily armed Texas and Nebraska National Guard members looked on, but refused repeated requests to give them water for more than an hour.
Instead, these families were told to walk three miles downriver. But the place they were directed to is private property, where migrants are often arrested for criminal trespassing, which can result in up to a year in prison. It is these prosecutions that have recently led to the separation of migrant fathers from their families.
At one point, I witnessed a panicked toddler screaming mid-river. For a moment I thought I was going to see a child drown, while National Guard members carrying weapons of war looked on from behind the razor wire. A boat operated by Texas Highway Patrol idled up-river, in no position to help in the case of tragedy. Earlier, the boat had made waves in an apparent attempt to deter the migrants from crossing.
More than 100 people, including children, have drowned in the Rio Grande in Maverick County, of which Eagle Pass is the county seat, in just the last 18 months. And research shows that aggressive enforcement mechanisms like Operation Lone Star correlate with higher numbers of migrant deaths.
Operation Lone Star — which has now cost Texas taxpayers $10 billion in spent or allocated funds — does not work to reduce illicit migration or drug smuggling, as the governor has claimed.