{"id":3830,"date":"2019-05-03T15:06:25","date_gmt":"2019-05-03T15:06:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/?p=3830"},"modified":"2019-05-03T15:06:25","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T15:06:25","slug":"1-dead-3-missing-after-migrant-boat-capsizes-at-us-mexico-border","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/2019\/05\/03\/1-dead-3-missing-after-migrant-boat-capsizes-at-us-mexico-border\/","title":{"rendered":"1 dead, 3 missing after migrant boat capsizes at US-Mexico border"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The body of a 10-month-old baby was recovered and three other migrants were feared drowned after their raft capsized near Rio Grande, Texas, as they tried to cross the US-Mexico border<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rubber raft flipped over on Wednesday night and all nine of its occupants were swept away in the cold, fast-flowing water, according to the father of the dead child, US Border Patrol said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The father swam to safety. A Border Patrol agent jumped into the river and rescued his wife and six-year-old son. The boy was given emergency care and then rushed to a hospital for advanced treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another man and his son were found on the river bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The missing were believed to include the seven-year-old nephew of the dead child\u2019s father, a girl and an adult male, according to the statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“What we\u2019re dealing with now is senseless tragedy,\u201d said Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Raul Ortiz in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The baby\u2019s body was found several miles downriver by a Border Patrol search-and-rescue team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drownings are common on the Rio Grande, which makes up part of the US-Mexico border, as migrants try to cross on often overcrowded, makeshift rafts with no life jackets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But rescues have increased since October as record numbers of Central American families try to enter the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Del Rio sector alone, Border Patrol has rescued more than 200 people since October, a more than 800 percent rise from the year-earlier period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Up to Thursday, the sector had recorded five water-related deaths in that period, according to sector data.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past seven months, Border Patrol has apprehended over 418,000 migrants on the southwest border, already surpassing the 2018 fiscal-year total.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of those arrested were Central American families, many of them crossing the border in large groups that can number over 400 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Toll greater than reported <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

US Customs and Border Protection recorded 283 deaths on the border in 2018, ranging from heat-related fatalities to drownings. That was down from a high of 492 in 2005 when annual apprehensions stood at nearly 1.2 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Migrant advocates say the death toll is far greater as many bodies are never recovered from deserts and the Rio Grande. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, President Donald Trump<\/a> again threatened to close the US border with Mexico, this time calling on Congress to take action. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Congress must get together and immediately eliminate the loopholes at the border!” Trump tweeted. “If no action, border, or large sections of border, will close. This is a national emergency!”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In February, Trump declared a national emergency<\/a> to circumvent Congress in obtaining billions of dollars to build his promised wall on the US-Mexico border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congress passed a bill to revoke the order, but Trump vetoed<\/a> the measure. The emergency is also being challenged in the courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thousands of people fleeing<\/a> Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and elsewhere have made their way to the border in recent months with the hopes of applying for asylum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dozens have told Al Jazeera they are fleeing political persecution, violence and extreme poverty.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The body of a 10-month-old baby was recovered and three other migrants were feared drowned after their raft capsized near Rio Grande, Texas, as they tried to cross the US-Mexico border. The rubber raft flipped over on Wednesday night and all nine of its occupants were swept away in the cold, fast-flowing water, according to the father of the dead child, US Border… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3830","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3830"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3830\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3831,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3830\/revisions\/3831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/baileyonlineclassroom.com\/theamericasblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}