An eight-year-old Honduran boy has become the latest victim in a string of drownings on the US-Mexico border as migrants attempt to cross the Rio Grande in treacherous winter conditions.
The child, who has not been named, drowned on Wednesday while attempting to cross the freezing river with his family amid unprecedented Arctic conditions in the borderlands which have killed more than 30 people and left millions in Mexico and Texas without power, water and food.
The family was attempting to cross the river from Piedras Negras in the Mexican state of Coahuila to reach Eagle Pass, Texas in frigid conditions. The boy’s parents and sister apparently made it to the US, but were returned to Mexico by Customs and Border Patrol (CBP).
According to Mexican immigration officials, the boy “couldn’t withstand the pounding water, which covered him and kept him submerged for several meters”. His body was recovered but attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.
Crossing the mighty crocodile- infested Rio Grande is always perilous: scores of undocumented migrants, many of whom could not swim, have drowned over the years after being caught out by the deceptively deep waters and strong current.
The massive winter storm currently blanketing the entire state of Texas, which has produced significant snow and prolonged freezing temperatures, has made the crossing even more dangerous.
Earlier this week, a Venezuelan woman died trying to cross the river in the same area after getting trapped in below-freezing currents. Three others suffered hypothermia: one was treated by the Red Cross in Mexico, while the other two made it the US border.
Border patrol agents in Texas have reportedly detained more than 200 undocumented migrants suffering from exposure and other cold-related injuries over the past week. The migrants were originally from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Ecuador, according to the CBP.
The deaths come as advocates in Mexico report a substantial increase in migrants from the Caribbean, Central and South America, who are fleeing a miserable mix of poverty, violence, corruption and natural disasters linked to the climate crisis.
Guatemala and Honduras, two of the most unequal, violent and corrupt countries in the region, were in November battered by two hurricanes which left millions of people without crops and adequate housing, and with little medical, food or economic assistance from their governments.
Facing starvation, many are on the move in search of safety, work and family reunification amid a glimmer of hope that the US will be less hostile to migrants and asylum seekers under Joe Biden.
“We’re seeing a big increase in migrants arriving in Mexico, trying to escape the consequences of climate change and make a better life,” said Martha Sánchez Soler, founder of the Mesoamerican Migrant Movement, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Mexico City. “There’s no adequate shelter in Mexico because of the pandemic, and they’re encountering the impact of climate change in the north.”
Protective health measures imposed to curtail the spread of Covid-19, including drastically reduced capacity at shelters along the route, mean migrants in transit are forced to risk traveling in life-threatening weather conditions and to stay in places preyed upon by criminal gangs and corrupt officials.
