The government of Texas in the USA is setting up a buoy barrier on the Rio Grande on the border with Mexico
A threeyearold boy died after his family attempted to cross the U.S. border across the Rio Grande, a river that marks the border between the country and Mexico.
A spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) announced the news on Thursday (21).
On Wednesday afternoon, the Naval Tactical Unit received information about a boy who was swept away by the current of the Rio Grande as he and his family attempted to cross it north of the river barrier in Eagle Pass, the spokeswoman said in an email.
“Officers located a threeyearold boy and carried him to shore,” but he was pronounced dead at the hospital where he was taken by medical personnel, she said.
Increase in the number of immigrants in the region
On Tuesday, the mayor of the Texas town of Eagle Pass, which borders Mexico, declared a state of emergency due to a sharp increase in migrants.
According to the latest official data, the Border Patrol intercepted 132,652 migrants at the border with Mexico in July and 99,545 in June.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced Wednesday that it is deploying 800 military personnel “to assist with logistics and other tasks at the border.”
To date, the Department of Defense supports DHS with 2,500 permanent National Guard personnel.
In addition, there are 24,000 Border Patrol agents and officers and more than 2,600 contract officers, according to DHS.
According to official data, the United States has expelled or sent back more than 253,000 people to 152 countries since May 12, many of them in Latin America.