3 migrants drown near Texas soldiers restricting federal border agents

Two children and a mother drowned in the Rio Grande on Friday while trying to enter the U.S. near the southern border where Texas National Guard soldiers have blocked Border Patrol personnel from processing and rescuing migrants.

Henry Cuellar, a Democrat, alleged Greg Abbott's National Guard members prevented Border Patrol officials from rescuing the migrants. Texas National Guard soldiers abruptly took control of an Eagle Pass public park that Border Patrol had been using to keep migrants this week, escalating Abbott and Biden's political and legal dispute over U.S. border policy.

The Border Patrol found six distressed migrants in the Rio Grande near Shelby Park on Friday night, Cuellar said Saturday. Cuellar noted that federal agents made fruitless phone calls to Texas state leaders about the emergency. According to Cuellar, Border Patrol agents were denied admission to the park to help the migrants.

"Texas Military Department soldiers stated they would not grant access to the migrants — even in the event of an emergency — and that they would send a soldier to investigate the situation," Cuellar said, noting that Mexican officials recovered three bodies on Saturday.

"This is a tragedy, and the State bears responsibility," said he.