Vigil held for migrants who drowned crossing from Mexico into Eagle Pass

McALLEN, Texas (Border Report) — Community members gathered on the banks of the Rio Grande on Monday evening to remember asylum-seekers who have drowned trying to cross into the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas.

Wearing white and light colors, over a dozen people sang and held hands and gave memorials about those who died trying to cross from Piedras Negras, Mexico.

They also threw white flowers into the swirling Rio Grande.

*Participants of Monday night’s border vigil in Eagle Pass, Texas, wore white to honor migrants who have died trying to cross the Rio Grande. (Photos Courtesy Eagle Pass Border Vigil)*

The vigil was held “in remembrance of the needless loss of lives along the Rio Grande,” the invitation to the twilight service read.

Memorials included that of a 3-year-old boy who drowned on Sept. 21 while trying to cross the river with a group of asylum-seekers.

White flowers are thrown into the Rio Grande on Oct. 2, 2023, during a vigil to remember migrants who have drowned in the Rio Grande in Eagle Pass, Texas. (Photo Courtesy Eagle Pass Border Vigil)

Participants gathered at Shelby Park, which is now a staging area for Texas DPS troopers and National Guard who patrol the banks as part of the state’s border security initiative known as Operation Lone Star.

Shelby Park is a public park that the city’s mayor briefly closed to the public for Operation Lone Star, but the city council reopened the park.

Eagle Pass has been a hotspot for migrants crossing from northern Mexico with numbers exceeding 10,000 per day in September.

Sandra Sanchez can be reached at SSanchez@BorderReport.com.