Investigation launched into acts along Rio Grande

By JOHN W. GONZALEZ

U.S. officials on Monday were investigating allegations that three illegal immigrants drowned in the Rio Grande after U.S. Border Patrol agents threw rocks at them as they forced them to recross the river.

 
The investigation was launched after Mexican officials asserted that the three drownings near Eagle Pass last week may have resulted from misconduct by Border Patrol agents. The allegations were made by two Mexicans who survived the incident early Thursday.

The drowning victims, two women and a teenage girl from central Mexico, were swallowed by the fast-moving waters near Piedras Negras, across from Eagle Pass, around 4:30 a.m. It was Saturday before all three bodies were recovered by Mexican rescue teams.

Soon after the incident, two survivors said their group of six illegal immigrants, including the three drowning victims, had reached the Texas bank but were confronted by two patrol agents who had gotten out of a vehicle, said Mexico Consul General Jorge Ernesto Espejel Montes in Eagle Pass.

"They said they threw rocks at them and ordered them to return to Mexican territory," Espejel said.

He said Mexico's "Grupo Zeta" river rescue team responded immediately to initial reports of several people in trouble in the river.

"They were able to rescue three males, including a minor boy (age 11). They (adults) gave declarations that they had just returned from across the river because they encountered agents of the U.S. Border Patrol. They said they (agents) obligated them to return to the other side of the river," Espejel said.

Patrol agents are not authorized to order illegal immigrants to recross the river, U.S. officials said. Agents are supposed to apprehend them, and if they are in trouble, call for rescuers.

After the two adult survivors provided sworn statements to officers of Grupo Zeta, the affidavits were taken to the Mexican consulate in Eagle Pass, which prepared a formal complaint and requested a full investigation by the Border Patrol. Espejel said he couldn't verify the survivors' claims but he was obligated to report the allegations and request the probe.

The victims were identified as Maria Guadalupe Gomez Patino, 37; her daughter, Adriana Martinez Gomez, 16; and Carmen Bustamante Aguirre, 33, all of Cortazar, Guanajuato.

The circumstances of their deaths are being investigated, said Border Patrol spokesman Dennis Smith in Del Rio, the sector headquarters that oversees operations in Eagle Pass.

"Any loss of life is always tragic, but there's not much I can say. This case has been referred to the Office of Inspector General," Smith said.

Among evidence that will be reviewed is videotape from lofty surveillance cameras that are trained on the river and captured at least part of Thursday's incident, Smith said. Investigators will try to determine whether any of the tapes confirm or contradict the survivors' claims, he said.

"Our agents are trained to conduct themselves in a very professional manner, and our main objective is interdicting illegal immigration, but we also are very cognizant of the preservation of human life and the need to help out people in distress," Smith said.