In an unprecedented turn of events, Mexican authorities were witnessed this week attempting to prevent migrants from crossing illegally into the United States.
In video footage captured by Fox News, Mexican authorities wearing bright orange vests were chasing, tackling, and grabbing migrants attempting to cross the Rio Grande River into Texas.
“Today was the first time that we witnessed Mexican authorities actually putting their hands on migrants & physically trying to stop them from entering the Rio Grande,” tweeted Fox News reporter Bill Melugin on Monday.
Today was the first time that we witnessed Mexican authorities actually putting their hands on migrants & physically trying to stop them from entering the Rio Grande. They were unsuccessful with this group. All of them crossed illegally into Eagle Pass. Wild scene today. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/fZrfZPnkw0
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) April 25, 2022
One group of migrants caught on camera evaded the Mexican authorities and entered the border city of Eagle Pass, Texas.
The novel sight came days after a Texas National Guardsman was presumed to have drowned in the same river while attempting to save two migrants. It took authorities three days to locate the body of the guardsman, 22-year-old Arlington, Texas native Bishop Evans.
The two migrants Evans was attempting to save were alleged to be drug traffickers, according to the Texas Rangers.
NEW: First photos of 22-year-old TX National Guard SPC. Bishop E. Evans of Arlington, TX, who has been missing since Friday morning and is presumed to have drowned in the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass after he jumped in to save lives. Photos courtesy of his family. @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/989c7iWAMI
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) April 24, 2022
The same day that Evans’ body was recovered, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki denied that the Biden administration bore any responsibility for the situation.
U.S. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA-23) led a group of nine U.S. House Republicans in a visit to the Rio Grande River to speak with the Texas National Guard and Border Patrol after the discovery of Evans’ body. Among them were Representatives Chip Roy (R-TX-21), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA-14), Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21), Gary Palmer (R-AL-06), Tony Gonzales (R-TX-23), Randy Weber (R-TX-14), Michael Guest (R-MS-03), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01), and Blake Moore (R-UT-01).
Monday afternoon, Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff to honor Evans.
“This brave young man gave his last full measure of devotion to his state and country,” stated Abbott. “His heroism will never be forgotten.”
Also on Monday, a federal judge barred the Biden administration from rescinding Title 42: the public health and border policy enacted by the Trump administration to curb COVID-19 spread.
BREAKING: I am so proud of the lawyers from our office who just got a Temporary Restraining Order to keep Title 42 in place. We will continue to fight the Biden administration's open border policies.
— Mark Brnovich (@GeneralBrnovich) April 25, 2022
The judge’s ruling came a week after 26 Republican governors launched an initiative to take the border crisis into their own hands: the American Governors’ Border Strike Force. Abbott led the announcement alongside Arizona Governor Doug Ducey. The strike force launch occurred the day after the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported that March set a record for the highest number of illegal border crossings in over 20 years.
Among those record numbers were nearly two dozen individuals on the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database. The 23 terrorists were apprehended by Border Patrol in the Rio Grande Valley Sector, Del Rio Sector, El Paso Sector, Tucson Sector, Yuma Sector, El Centro Sector, and San Diego Sector.
McCarthy questioned how many other terrorists were numbered among the “got aways” — those not apprehended or observed crossing illegally into the country.
If Border Patrol stopped 23 people on the terrorist watchlist last year, that begs the question: Who are we not catching?https://t.co/BlFSAykmQG
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) April 18, 2022
The situation only worsened in the three months after Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted that the border crisis was the worst in U.S. history. On Monday, more than 50 House Republicans sent a letter to Mayorkas accusing him of endangering American citizens through his failed leadership. They urged Mayorkas to take action to mitigate the border crisis, insisting that he wasn’t doing “all the legal and necessary actions at [his] disposal” to do so.