Asylum seekers receive instructions from police officers after crossing the Rio Grande into the US. Brandon Bell / Getty Images North America / Getty Images via AFP 07/18/2023
A pregnant migrant who attempted to turn herself in to US immigration authorities has claimed Texas National Guard soldiers refused to provide her with water and otherwise behaved “inhumanely”. Carmen from Honduras, who tried to cross the border with her husband, is currently being held in an emergency shelter in Eagle Pass, a town in the US state of Texas on the border with Mexico.
“They told us they couldn’t give us water because it wasn’t their responsibility,” Carmen, who said she was six months pregnant, told CNN International. She added that on July 12, she and her husband initially attempted to cross the Rio Grande but were stopped by Texas National Guard soldiers.
“They told us it was a crime to enter the United States and that we should return to Mexico. They showed us handcuffs and told us they would arrest us,” he said.
“They asked us why we left our country,” the immigrant added, recounting that hours later she asked for water again. “I felt like I was suffocating.”
Carmen indicated that she and her husband ended up spending the night on the banks of the Rio Grande where there were snakes. Eventually she stopped sleeping out of fear.
Finally, the migrant was analyzed by a paramedic who lamented the situation and told her, “I don’t know why they treated you badly if you just want a better life.” Immigration authorities later took Carmen and her husband to further their asylum process.
Carmen’s account is not the only one among immigrants who have been abused at the US border. Earlier this week, the Houston Chronicle reported on an email exchange between a Texas state police officer and a supervisor about alleged abuse of foreigners attempting to cross the border.
The emails claimed border officials were instructed to push small children and babies back into the Rio Grande. They were also told not to give the migrants water despite the searing temperatures that plunged Texas into sweltering heat waves.
The official wrote that “due to the extreme heat, the order not to give people water must be lifted immediately” and acknowledged that border officials had “crossed the line of inhumanity”.
A statement released Tuesday by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s office denied the allegations of immigrant abuse and said, “No orders or directions have been given as part of Operation Lone Star that would endanger the lives of those attempting to cross the border illegally.”
Xochitl Hinojosa, a spokeswoman for the US Department of Justice, told CNN that “the Department is aware of the worrying reports.” Authorities “worked with DHS,” she said. [o Departamento de Segurança Interna dos EUA] and other relevant authorities to assess the situation.