EAGLE PASS, Texas — A funeral home director closed the doors of his facility to migrants who died while or after illegally crossing the border. The director said his facility is beyond its capacity to deal with the influx of deaths in Maverick County.
A U.S. Customs and Border Protection source told Breitbart Texas that the director of Memorial Funeral Home reported his facility is beyond capacity and can no longer accept remains of migrants found in the Rio Grande or on nearby ranches.
On Thursday morning, the funeral home carried out a mass burial of at least ten deceased migrants. The bodies were reportedly unidentified at the time.
Identity documents may be found at a recovery location but cannot be trusted as a sole source. Border Patrol trains agents who specialize in macro photography to gather fingerprints when available. Databases are searched domestically and abroad. When remains are badly decomposed, the Missing Migrant Team searches missing person reports and assists local coroners in obtaining DNA from relatives.
The director said the cancellation of the policy of accepting deceased migrants is effective on Thursday.
In addition to the bodies being held on Wednesday, a source with knowledge of the situation revealed some other bodies were being held in vehicles and by other local officials.
At this time, it is unclear what Border Patrol and Maverick County officials will do with the bodies recovered in the area. One county official told Breitbart their options are very limited.
“The remaining funeral home in the area lacks adequate facilities to handle the flow of deceased migrants,” the county official said under the condition of anonymity.
The county is exploring options to procure a refrigerated truck or find an out-of-town funeral home capable of handling the high volume of decedents.
“Today’s burial of ten migrants did not do much to change the overall situation,” the county official stated. The official blamed the situation on the recent spike in the number of migrant deaths in the Rio Grande and on ranches where migrants are being smuggled.
Breitbart Texas reported last week on the record-setting 670 migrant deaths recorded in the first nine months of Fiscal Year 22. Of the more than 670 deaths, 60 percent were drownings and exposure. Another ten percent of the deaths were discovered but the causes were not definitive.
Border Patrol officials report the recovery of three more migrants on Wednesday who died while or shortly after crossing the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass. Those migrants also have not yet been identified.
During the spike in migrant crossings where Del Rio Sector agents apprehended 50,000 migrants in July alone, migrant deaths have also spiked. Border Patrol officials say that during some periods, the death rate hits at least one per day.
In March, Breitbart reported the drowning deaths of ten migrants during a two-week period. This report did not include the deaths of migrants from exposure to heat on Texas ranches.
Six more migrant bodies were recovered over Mother’s Day weekend and over the Memorial Day weekend, Del Rio Sector agents recovered the deaths of ten more migrants. Eight of these deaths occurred as drownings in the Rio Grande.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.