The bodies of two migrants including a toddler were recovered from the Rio Grande river this week as illegal crossings along the U.S. southern border continue soaring to near-record levels.
The Texas Department of Public Safety located the body of a 3-year-old boy near the border town of Eagle Pass in the Rio Grande on Wednesday.
The following day, the lifeless body of an adult migrant was found; further information about the decedent was not available.
Agency Spokesperson Ericka Brown revealed that both bodies were located north of the floating barriers set up by Texas authorities in the Rio Grande.
The fatalities came amid a sharp increase in illegal crossings of the southern border this month.
Border Patrol agents arrested more than 140,000 migrants, mainly Venezuelans, after they illegally crossed the US-Mexico border without authorization in September.
On Wednesday, agents proceeded roughly 9,000 illegal migrants, a number not seen since the 10,000 migrants per day recorded during several days in May.
