VIDEO: Border Patrol agents rescue migrants from Rio Grande river

Border Patrol agents in Texas rescued two migrants who were caught in the raging currents of the Rio Grande River as they tried to make their way across the U.S.-Mexico Border. 

The incident in which the migrants attempted the treacherous journey across the river near Eagle Pass, Texas, was caught on video by KENS 6 cameras. 

The video shows Border Patrol agents arriving on a boat to where the two migrants are struggling in the water. The agents then pull the migrants onto the boat. 

Once on dry land, however, one of the migrants begins to shake as he begins to have an epileptic seizure. 

“For the second time in just minutes, agents saved this young man’s life,” reported KENS 6. 

The two men were identified as siblings traveling from Ecuador. They said it took them almost two months to make the journey to Eagle Pass—a journey in which they encountered countless dangers. 

“They’re walking for days, and if they can’t keep up with the smugglers, they’re simply abandoned to die,” said Del Rio Sector Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens.

Many migrants attempt to cross the Rio Grande from Mexico towards the U.S. According to the U.S. Border Patrol, around 46 migrants have died in the Del Rio Sector so far this fiscal year, which began last October. 

“Every year we have people drown trying to cross this river,” said Owens.

Last month, Border Patrol agents also assisted a group of six Haitian nationals that had become stranded in the Tijuana River on a small island near the San Ysidro Port of Entry while trying to cross to the United States. 

In addition to several migrants getting killed in the river, hundreds of others die along the border either from the desert heat, exhaustion, or accidents. During Fiscal Year 2022, more than 256 migrants died along the border—100 more deaths than the ones reported the previous fiscal year.