Mexican family's death at border looms over ongoing Justice Department standoff with Texas

After days of wrangling over control of a heavily trodden stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border, Texas and federal officials remain in a showdown with Gov. Greg Abbott, who has refused to cede any ground.

The deaths of a mother and her two children last week brought this rift to a boiling point. Federal officials say Texas is unable to properly attend to human safety in this area and rescue migrants who become trapped or succumb to dangerous conditions when crossing the Rio Grande. Texas authorities blamed the Biden administration for the three deaths, saying they happened because the U.S. has failed to properly enforce its immigration laws.

At the heart of this standoff were the victims, Victerma de la Sancha Cerros, 33, her daughter, Yorlei Rubi, 10, and son, Jonathan Agustín, 8, who drowned while crossing the river the evening of Jan. 12, according to the Mexican National Institute of Migration. The family was traveling with Monica de la Sancha Cerros, 30, and her son Victor Antonio, 10, both of whom were rescued by Mexican officials. All five family members were from the state of Mexico.

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The drowning deaths happened near Eagle Pass’ Shelby Park, a 47-acre city property that the state took over after migrant crossings began to increase. The city has said it had no role in the state’s actions to prevent migrants from entering the U.S. It said public entry to the area has been restricted.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security in early January ordered Texas to stop blocking Border Patrol officials' access to the 2.5-mile stretch by the end of Wednesday or the Justice Department would take legal action. Federal law enforcement has asked the Supreme Court to intervene and press Texas to remove its fencing and barriers and restore Border Patrol access to the border.

Lawyers for Texas say they are simply affirming their state’s rights amid a border crisis. They also disputed the details of what happened with the woman and her two children who drowned last week and differed on the details of two other migrants in distress that night in the river. Texas lawyers said the federal government sought to blame the state “for a tragedy that had already occurred before any federal official even contacted Texas.”

Migrants in distress in Rio Grande

At 8 p.m. last Friday, Victerma de la Sancha Cerros and her two children drowned near Shelby Park, according to court documents. U.S. officials say that de la Sancha Cerros and her children were in the water near the boat ramp when they drowned. Mexican officials said they never entered U.S. territory.

At 8 p.m. that same evening, Mexican officials alerted the U.S. Border Patrol about two migrants in distress on the U.S. side of the river, near the Shelby Park boat ramp, according to Chief Border Patrol Agent Robert Danley, who oversees the area that includes Eagle Pass. Monica de la Sancha Cerros and her son were also near the U.S. side before they turned back. Texas attorneys said in court documents that state personnel didn't see anyone in distress in the water at that time and only learned about the drownings after the fact from Border Patrol.

Seven migrants in two groups had tried to cross that night, Danley said. The first was a group of five people – the de la Sancha Cerros women and the three children. Border Patrol attempted to reach Monica de la Sancha Cerros and her 10-year-old son. Mexican officials would not comment on whether the two mothers were related, but Mexican media outlets identified them as sisters. Two men also tried to cross that night, Danley said.

When a Border Patrol agent arrived at Shelby Park, the gate erected by the state was closed. In a conversation through the gate, personnel from the Texas Military Department, a branch of the state police that operates at the border, refused the agent access to the park.

As Monica de la Sancha Cerros and her son were on the U.S. side of the river, and no one came to help them, Border Patrol officials said, they tried to return to Mexico. Mexican officials rescued them by an airboat and returned to Mexico, where they were treated for hypothermia.

Danley stated, in court documents, that the Border Patrol agent mentioned at the park's entry gate that two migrants were in distress. Texas lawyers offered a different account: They said that a Texas Military Department colonel, staff sergeant and a sergeant at the gate stated the federal agent expressed no urgency to retrieve two migrants. 

Even if it had been an emergency, Texas lawyers said, the Border Patrol had no watercraft or equipment to perform a rescue at the time. They said the Border Patrol had stopped water patrols earlier in the day. The Texas Military Department had about 20 personnel patrolling the area, conducting nighttime surveillance with spotlights, night-vision goggles and thermal-imaging devices, Col. Christopher Fletcher said in court documents.

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'Any persons in distress can easily be seen and heard'

Fletcher said the Rio Grande becomes “eerily quiet” at night. “Any persons in distress can easily be seen and heard,” he said, “as can voices or sneezes from the Mexican shore.” 

The distance from the boat ramp to Mexico is less than 100 yards.

When the Border Patrol agent arrived at the park and told Texas officials about the drownings, Fletcher said, state personnel had only heard about two migrants who had been found that evening. Both had been found alive. There was a migrant woman who had been detained near the boat ramp and transferred to state police. And, between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m., personnel also found a migrant climbing near a shipping container in Shelby Park. When the man complained of symptoms of hypothermia, state personnel transferred him to emergency medical services for treatment.

Before a Texas staff sergeant drove to the gate to speak with Border Patrol, he said he noticed what looked like Mexican officials responding to an emergency event on the Mexican shore.

Lawyers for the state contest the allegation that Texas won't allow federal law enforcement access to the area in dispute. They said the state allows Border Patrol to access the boat ramp at Shelby Park so agents can patrol along the river and lets them have access at other locations along the Rio Grande. They said the state also allows Border Patrol officials quick entry into the park to respond to medical emergencies.

In court filings, Danley, from the Border Patrol, said that federal agents were not permitted to visually monitor the Shelby Park area when the three deaths and two rescues happened. He said Texas officials have blocked mobile video surveillance inside the park’s area that can find migrants in distress, he said.

Rescues continue along that section of the border as the court drama remains in limbo.

On Thursday morning, Mexican officials rescued three Mexican migrants in the Rio Grande near Piedras Negras, near where Victerma de la Sancha Cerros and her two children died a week before. Grupo Beta, an aid group with the Mexican National Institute of Migration, rescued the trio from an islet where they were stranded in the Rio Grande.

On Wednesday night, Mexican officials rescued an Ecuadorian migrant who had been in the river for an extended time near an international bridge that shadows Shelby Park. The person was treated for hypothermia.

Eduardo Cuevas covers health and breaking news for USA TODAY. He can be reached at [email protected].