Biden administration silent after Border Patrol agents rescue illegal migrants from raging river

Border Patrol agents on Saturday morning saved the lives of an illegal immigrant family trapped in the Rio Grande River. The Biden administration has been publically silent on the daring rescue.

Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents at about 7:40 a.m. saw what appeared to be a family attempting to cross the river, according to a Customs and Border Protection press release. As the group neared the U.S. border, the ground collapsed beneath them. The family struggled to swim as the current carried them downriver.

One quick-thinking agent jumped into the river and another threw a rescue bag that did not reach the group, according to CBP. The Border Patrol agent in the river pulled the mother and child to safety before going back in to rescue an adult male, described by officials as having "been underwater for an extended period before the agent was able to reach him."

The agents gave aid to the three illegal migrants from Haiti and contacted Emergency Medical Services to take the family to the hospital. 

The family, a 33-year-old man, a 34-year-old woman and a 5-year-old girl, were released from the hospital Saturday evening and are being processed by CBP.

"I'm never more proud, yet scared, as when these incidents occur," Del Rio Sector's Chief Patrol Agent Jason D. Owens said on Twitter after the incident.

Owens, who has worked at Border Patrol for nearly two decades according to his Linkedin bio, called the rescue "courageous" and tweeted a link to footage of the event.

"Notice the strong currents," Owens said. "Dangerous! Time & time again, the men & women of  #USBP go above & beyond the call of duty. This is who they are."

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and other Biden Administration officials have yet to publicly comment on the rescue.

However, administration officials, including Vice President Kamala Harris and White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki, were quick to condemn Border Patrol agents last fall after the media circulated photos incorrectly suggesting that officers mounted on horses were abusing illegal immigrants with whips.

"There are very few things that will boil my blood as bad as the White House directly coming out and condemning an action before they know what happened," National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd told Just the News podcast.