- A stream of people were filmed making the dangerous crossing of the Rio Grande at Eagle Pass, Texas, on Wednesday morning
- A large part of the group consisted of women with young children
- They formed a human chain and used ropes to cross, but some were swept away or pulled to shore and had to undergo CPR
A shocking video shows hundreds of migrants using ropes and forming human chains to help people cross the treacherous Rio Grande in Texas.
Streams of people – many of whom were women with young children – were filmed risking their lives to cross the deceptively deep and dangerous river in Eagle Pass.
Footage filmed on Wednesday morning showed people being swept away while others were pulled unconscious from the water.
It was captured by NewsNation Border Correspondent Ali Bradley and first aired on the Morning in America show.
That’s what Texas border czar Mike Banks said NewsNation: “Twenty-three years in the Border Patrol and I have never seen such a chaotic border. I’ve never seen so many deaths.’
A woman who lost an arm crossing from Venezuela and suffered third-degree burns when the bus she was traveling in overturned told a reporter it was still “worth it” to get to safety in the US.
The group formed human chains when the rope was not long enough to reach over them
One man was pulled ashore unconscious and resuscitated by the group
Officials from the Florida Wildlife Commission and the Texas Department of Public Safety were on scene and warned people not to cross due to the danger.
Some adults waded into the water with children on their shoulders, while others clung to inner tubes to be pulled over.
In desperation, the crowd used ropes and formed human chains to prevent people from being swept away by the current.
At one point, a mother panicked when the current caught her young child and nearly lost her.
Another man was pulled onto a boat by officials and resuscitated
Authorities pulled an unconscious man from the water and gave him CPR as others, including a toddler, watched.
The crowd that had gathered erupted into cheers as he regained consciousness and sat up.
Another man was pulled to shore by other members of the group and, thanks to CPR, he also woke up.
Once they reached the Texas coast, they were confronted with rows of barbed wire – some begging for water and dry clothes.
They were forced to walk for two hours to get past the barbed wire to where authorities could process them.
Officials took to the water to cut the rope and scan to see if anyone was in distress
An aerial photo shows desperate families climbing a wire to enter the US
It comes as the Texas House of Representatives passed a new state law Tuesday night that gives local law enforcement the ability to arrest people crossing the border illegally.
Under the bill, detainees would then be given the option to deport themselves to Mexico or face a misdemeanor charge and be removed.
Crossing the border between ports of entry is already illegal under federal law, and legal experts have blasted the Texas bill as running afoul of a Supreme Court ruling that states cannot enforce immigration laws on their own.
In September, a three-year-old boy and a man died while trying to cross Eagle Pass. The boy was trying to cross with his family when he was swept away.
The boy’s body was found by Texas Department of Public Safety officers north of the sea barrier in Eagle Pass.
State troopers took him to shore, where they were met by paramedics who rushed him to a nearby hospital. The child was pronounced dead at the medical facility.
Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas declared a state of emergency at the time, with reports of 100 people arriving every hour and warning that the city’s hospitals were also becoming overwhelmed.