Border Patrol Agent Pulls Family From Rio Grande After Bank Collapses Near Eagle Pass

U.S. Border Patrol agents at Eagle Pass, Texas, have pulled more than one family from the Rio Grande when a crossing turned into a drowning emergency. The episode that most closely matches a collapsing muddy bank and an agent entering the current is a CBP account from 12 February 2022.

Agents on line watch near International Bridge No. 2 saw a family approaching the U.S. bank. The ground under them gave way. They dropped into deep, fast water and were carried downstream. One agent jumped in. Another threw a rescue bag that did not reach the group. The agent in the river pulled a mother and child to shore, then went back for an adult man who had been underwater. EMS took the 33-year-old man, 34-year-old woman and 5-year-old girl — all Haitian nationals — to a local hospital. They were released the same evening.

Other documented Eagle Pass rescues include a March 2019 airboat pickup of a Guatemalan mother and three children (ages 2, 4 and 15) swept downriver, and a 2014 case in which an agent swam about 25 yards to a five-year-old Honduran girl who had gone under. Sector chiefs have said that without a rapid response those crossings would likely have ended in drowning.

After each rescue the families were evaluated medically and processed under CBP rules. Officials continue to warn that the river’s current and drop-offs make unauthorized crossings lethal.

Source: U.S. Customs and Border Protection / Del Rio Sector news releases, including “Family Alive After Harrowing Rescue By Eagle Pass Border Patrol Agents” (12 February 2022) and earlier Eagle Pass marine-unit rescues