Karen Gleason
Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez called on the Biden administration to develop a common-sense immigration policy that will decrease the number of immigrants dying at the border.
Martinez said sheriff’s office deputies and investigators were dispatched to an area of the Rio Grande just below the weir dam upstream of the international bridge about 5 p.m. Wednesday to assist Border Patrol agents in the recovery of man’s body from the river.
“They recovered the body of a Cuban national,” Martinez said.
The sheriff noted the dead man’s nationality was determined from the passport the man had been carrying when he attempted to cross the river from Mexico into the United States.
“There was also probably another person with him, but the body of the second person hasn’t surfaced yet,” the sheriff said.
Martinez said the justice of the peace called to pronounce the body dead requested an autopsy, and the body has been transported to the office of the Webb County Medical Examiner in Laredo where that autopsy will be performed.
Martinez said his investigators could find no obvious signs of foul play on the body.
The sheriff said no immediate determination could be made how long the man had been in the water.
“By all indications, it was probably at least several days to a week,” Martinez said.
The sheriff said the Cuban man’s body is the sixth recovered from the river since Jan. 9.
“Last year, we had a total of two all year long, and one child that was never recovered,” Martinez said.
“I think it’s driven by the lack of this administration addressing immigration issues. In my opinion, when this administration came in, they threw the baby out with the bathwater, and they didn’t have a policy in place, and now they’re struggling to catch up, and from what I’m seeing, they’re not being totally factual as to what they’re doing with these immigrants.
“For example, they say that they’re testing them for COVID, but that’s not really happening unless they’re showing symptoms, and the Border Patrol is just too busy. There are just too many immigrants to process and not enough personnel in the field to go after these little groups that are getting away,” Martinez said.
“This loss of life is very sad, and I wish this administration, both sides, would get together and come up with something that’s effective for everyone. They’re putting that burden on the border, on the citizens of our community. We’re dealing with it on a daily basis, and there’s not enough being done,” Martinez added.
