Officials in Mexico are investigating after two bodies were found in the Rio Grande along the U.S-Mexican border − one of them spotted this week along a floating border barrier installed by Texas authorities.
Officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety notified the Mexican consulate about a dead person caught in the southern part of the buoys in the Rio Grande spotted on Wednesday afternoon, according to the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The incident marked the first time a body had been found along the floating barrier recently installed at the direction of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Members of the Mexican National Institute of Migration’s assistance unit, Grupos Beta, led efforts to recover the body, the agency reported. As of Thursday that person’s cause of death and nationality were not known.
Texas Department of Safety spokesperson Ericka Miller told USA TODAY Thursday DPS received a report of a possible drowning victim floating upstream from the marine barrier on Wednesday.
“DPS then notified U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Mexican Consulate,” Miller said. “Later that day a body was discovered at the marine barrier.”
“Preliminary information suggests this individual drowned upstream from the marine barrier and floated into the buoys,” DPS Director Steve McCraw said “There are personnel posted at the marine barrier at all times in case any migrants try to cross.”
A second body found in the Rio Grande
Mexico’s Foreign Relations Department later reported the second body was located about three miles upriver, away from the bright orange, wrecking ball-sized buoys.
Authorities in the state Coahuila later told local media outlets both bodies were in the process of identification.
The second person’s cause of death was also unknown.
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‘A violation of our sovereignty’
Installed in July, the buoys are the latest escalation of border security operations in Texas.
Last month, USA TODAY reported migrant children and adults have been lacerated by razor wire installed by the state.
Over the Fourth of July weekend, before the buoys were installed, four people drowned in the river near Eagle Pass.
The Foreign Relations Department said Mexico previously warned about risks posed by the buoys along the nearly 1,900 mile river. Department leaders also said the barrier violates treaties regarding the use of the river and Mexico’s sovereignty.
“We reiterate the position of the Government of Mexico that the placement of chained buoys by Texas authorities is a violation of our sovereignty,” the Mexican government said in a press release Wednesday. “We express our concern about the impact on the human rights and personal safety of migrants of these state policies, which run counter to the close collaboration between our country and the United States.”
The Mexican agency said the death investigations remain under investigation and “will maintain contact with the corresponding authorities in Mexico and the United States” in an effort to gather information about what happened.
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Feds sue Texas over floating barrier
The U.S. Justice Department is suing Texas over the barrier after Abbott refused to remove the barrier the Biden administration says was unlawfully put into place.
Late last month, the White House called Abbott’s actions “dangerous” and “unlawful” after the governor defied the Justice Department’s request and told the president he would see the Biden administration in court.
On July 20, the Justice Department sent the governor a letter ordering him to remove the barrier. Texas’ actions violate federal law and “raise humanitarian concerns,” it warned.
Contributing: Associated Press
Natalie Neysa Alund covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on Twitter @nataliealund.
