(PartiallyPolitics.com) – The South Texas Human Rights Center has in recent years placed a number of barrels of water along the Mexico border in Jim Hogg County which can decrease the cases of dehydration of undocumented migrants as they are crossing the southern Texas border in the heat.
However, John Meza, an organization volunteer stated that in July when he had gone to refill the stations he had noticed that around half, 12 of the 21 stations, were no longer in place. This has led to many questions about whether or not the barrels had been removed intentionally.
A county sheriff’s office investigator Ruben Garza told Newsweek that they were going to be examining these allegations to determine whether the barrels were stolen, or if most likely they had been moved by individuals who were not aware of their purpose. Garza who had worked in the U.S. Customs and Border Protection for over three decades stated that regardless of what everyone thought, they were “in the lifesaving business.” He added that they needed to protect humanity.
The number of illegal border crossings has decreased this year following the expiration of Title 42, a Trump-era health policy. The new policy implemented by Biden, which is being legally challenged in court, has made migrants who do not apply to other countries they cross through for asylum, ineligible to apply for asylum in the U.S.
The data from the Customs and Border Protection Agency has shown that between October and June of 2022, there had been 208,000 encounters, while in 2023 that number had dropped to 144,000. Despite the decrease in the overall encounters, there are still many migrants who are choosing to cross the border despite the extremely high temperatures that are often above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
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