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TRAGEDY ON THE RIO GRANDE: Two little children drown and infant is critical after illegal crossing goes horribly wrong

The five-year-old girl was swept away in the current with her mother just like the three-year-old boy who was part of another group of migrants

RIO GRANDE, US-MEXICO BORDER: In a heartrending incident, two migrant children drowned and a two-month-old baby is fighting for his life after trying to cross a river from Mexico to enter the United States. After being rescued from the Rio Grande river, the baby boy received CPR from a border patrol agent.

According to reports, a five-year-old Guatemalan girl, one of the dead, and her mother were swept away in the current. The infant is reportedly in critical condition at a San Antonio hospital. Canal44's video on Monday, August 22, showed authorities pulling up the lifeless body of the child from the water near El Paso, Texas. 

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According to The Mirror, two separate incidents on Monday, August 22,  involving immigrant groups attempting to make the perilous crossing into the United States, resulted in tragedies. The infant was a member of an immigrant group that attempted to cross a river near Eagle Pass when a three-year-old boy died. The five-year-old girl was a part of another group trying to enter the US through El Paso, reported canal44.com.

The young girl, identified as Margaret Sofia, was discovered further downstream, while Silvia Garcia del Carmen, her mother, 28, was rescued without injury. Both the mother and the child were natives of Guatemala.

People frequently use the Rio Grande to cross, but despite its calm exterior, the river has dangerous undercurrents. Altogether five migrants were rescued from the US and Mexican sides of the river on August 22 alone. 

Fernando Garcia, founder and executive director of the Border Network for Human Rights, an immigrant advocacy organization in El Paso, tweeted, "The situation at our border has reached its limit, evidenced by the death of more than 50 migrants in San Antonio and others who perished recently in the irrigation canals in El Paso” - @FernandoBNHR, executive director of BNHR. Many are suffering:"

Garcia said, "The drownings followed 20 others in June and July just in El Paso. What you don’t see is an outcry in America — why do children have to die?" New York Post reported. According to him, the migrant parents faced a “personal decision” about bringing their kids with them across the border. He stated, "They do it because of their children…so their children don’t grow up where they will die of hunger, poverty or disease if they stay. Or violence."

The Washington Examiner reported that in July, according to internal data compiled by US Customs and Border Protection, the number of fatalities among migrants reached an all-time high of 609 during the first nine months of fiscal 2022, which started on October 2021.

Drowning is the second leading cause of death for migrants crossing the US-Mexico border, according to statistics provided online by the International Organization for Migration of the United Nations. According to the organization's website, there have been 3,339 migrants who have perished or gone missing while attempting to enter US since 2014, including 595 in 2021.

The number of migrants detained at or close to the border, however, will surpass two million for the first time ever when fiscal 2022 comes to an end on September 30. Earlier, Senator Ted Cruz tweeted, "More than 2,000 illegal aliens crossed into Texas through the Del Rio sector this weekend. President Biden can’t be bothered to clean up the mess he created." 

US Rep Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) tweeted, "Smuggling at the border is out of control, and we can only imagine the "shipments" that make their way in undetected. This is what happens when the President refuses to address this crisis."