LGBTQ Immigrant Rights Group Decries Texas Governor’s Use of Death Traps That Maim and Kill Migrants Crossing the Rio Grande

“Governor Abbott has fresh blood on his hands, and the Biden administration must take immediate action to hold him accountable.”

New York, NY (July 19, 2023) — Reports out of Texas reveal the extreme measures Governor Abbott has implemented to stop migrants from crossing the Rio Grande and entering the U.S.

In an email first covered by the Houston Chronicle, a medic-trooper described tactics he saw used against migrants in Eagle Pass, Texas, including: deploying barrels wrapped in razor wire into murky water; lining the river with razor wire; and pushing families with small children and nursing mothers back into the river in 100-degree heat.

He described multiple cases of migrants badly injured while trying to cross the razor wire, including a pregnant woman experiencing a miscarriage. Further, the trooper detailed the previously unreported drownings of a mother and her children caught in the river.

Bridget Crawford, Immigration Equality’s Law and Policy Director, issued the following statement:

“We are sickened by reports that Governor Abbott is deploying barbaric measures that maim and kill migrant children and families attempting to cross the Rio Grande. He is treating asylum seekers, pregnant women, and infants as enemy combatants, sanctioning the use of ‘all resources and tools available to repel’ them.

“To survive the crossing, migrants and asylum seekers must navigate past a series of death traps, like floating barrels wrapped in razor wire. And if they do make it through the gauntlet alive, Governor Abbott’s troopers are reportedly denying them drinking water and shoving them back into the river.

“Deaths and injuries in these conditions are calculated objectives—not accidents. Governor Abbott is lying when he claims the tactics used at Eagle Pass are to protect migrant safety. It is well-documented that when migrants can’t enter the U.S. safely, they will risk their lives taking more dangerous routes.

“Governor Abbott has fresh blood on his hands, and the Biden administration must take immediate action to hold him accountable. Failing to do so will send a frightening message that the U.S. government condones such cruelty. No one should be allowed to put migrants, including children and pregnant women in mortal danger for political gain.

“We also call on the Biden administration to lift the asylum ban, which harms countless asylum seekers, including LGBTQ refugees. The right to request asylum should be among the most sacred in this country. President Biden’s asylum ban is illegal and inhumane.”