A video surfaced Sunday of Border Patrol agents’ rescuing a family of Haitian migrants that nearly drowned in the Rio Grande river in Del Rio, Texas.
Agents in the video appeared to be aiding the group, with one seemingly performing CPR on one of the migrants as the strong current of the river ran adjacent to the group.
Del Rio Chief Patrol Agent Jason D. Owens said that the “dangerous” incident shows how “time (and) time again” border agents “go above (and) beyond the call of duty.”
Before they were rescued, the migrant family was making its way to the riverbank on the U.S. side, but the ground beneath them collapsed, sending them into deep water, according to a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) press release. The family members reportedly struggled to stay afloat amid the powerful current which swept them further down the river.
Border agents spotted the group while on patrol of the area around 7:40 a.m, the CBP release said.
The attempt to save the migrants’ lives involved one border agent jumping into the river and another unsuccessfully throwing a rescue bag to the group, CBP announced. The agent in the water reportedly managed to pull a mother, 34, and a five-year-old girl out of the water before bringing a man, 33, who had been underwater for a long period, to safety.
The agents then rendered aid and called Emergency Medical Services, which reportedly transported the family to a nearby hospital for additional treatment.
The Border Patrol union in Del Rio applauded the agents who conducted the rescue, emphasizing the importance of having agents on the frontlines.
“Agents rescue people at the river and in the middle of nowhere every day, but only if we are able to be outside actually doing our job,” the union chapter wrote.
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