Texas Trooper’s Email Describes Migrant Injuries at Southern Border
Message alleges state police were told to push people into Rio Grande, where razor wire loomed Razor wire lines the edges of the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, Texas. Photo: Eric Gay/Associated Press By Elizabeth Findell Updated July 18, 2023 10:29 pm ET AUSTIN, Texas—Texas state police troopers and National Guard members patrolling the border with Mexico were ordered to deny water to people at a time when temperatures surpassed 100 degrees, to push an exhausted mother with a nursing baby into the Rio Grande and to prevent a preschooler near razor wire from getting to shore, according to an email from a trooper airing his concerns to his superior. The email, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, contained allegations of severe injuries to migrants by razor wire that state authorit
Razor wire lines the edges of the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass, Texas.
Photo: Eric Gay/Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas—Texas state police troopers and National Guard members patrolling the border with Mexico were ordered to deny water to people at a time when temperatures surpassed 100 degrees, to push an exhausted mother with a nursing baby into the Rio Grande and to prevent a preschooler near razor wire from getting to shore, according to an email from a trooper airing his concerns to his superior.
The email, which was reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, contained allegations of severe injuries to migrants by razor wire that state authorities have placed in the river. A pregnant 19-year-old was stuck in the wire, doubled over in pain and having a miscarriage, when state police found her and cut her free, the trooper wrote. The trooper wrote that state police found a man with a significant laceration to his leg after he had tried to cut his child free from what the email termed a “trap”—a barrel covered in razor wire—in the river. A 15-year-old boy broke his leg trying to evade the wire, the email said.
The 4-year-old girl who troopers pushed back from the wire, passed out from the heat shortly thereafter, according to the email.
The July 3 email, from trooper and medic Nicholas Wingate to his superior, Sgt. Colin Kolupski, was first reported Monday by the Houston Chronicle. Another trooper, Brandon Tinsley, sent it to state police Sgt. Garrett Ritter and wrote that he fully cosigned the message. The Texas Department of Public Safety’s Office of the Inspector General is investigating the allegations in the email, a department spokesman said.
Troopers with the Department of Public Safety have been deployed over the past two years as part of Operation Lone Star, an effort by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to establish a state operation for border security, a responsibility of the federal government. Under the operation, thousands of state police and National Guardsmen have been sent to border regions to patrol, build barriers and arrest migrants in certain areas on misdemeanor state trespassing charges.
In recent months, a primary focus has been on the river front of the Eagle Pass area, where Wingate was working. State police there have put up blockades of shipping containers, clear-cut miles of riverfront and covered the river’s edges in razor wire.
“I truly believe in the mission of Operation Lone Star,” Wingate wrote, but added, “I believe we have stepped over a line into the inhumane. We need to operate it correctly in the eyes of God.”
Texas Department of Public Safety officials Tuesday denied that it was policy to refuse water to migrants in the heat, and said the razor wire was intended to deter crossings, not injure people. Wingate didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Title 42, which allowed U.S. authorities to quickly expel migrants on public health grounds, expired on May 11. WSJ’s Alicia A. Caldwell explains what the policy is, its effect on the border and what comes next. Photo: John Moore/Getty Images
Emails provided to the Journal by the department from Director Steven McCraw
sent to multiple DPS recipients say that the department has seen an increase in injuries from the state’s placement of the razor wire. One email reviewed by the Journal detailed seven incidents from July 4 to July 13 of migrants with lacerations severe enough to require hospital care.“Crossing through the concertina wire without protective gear is no doubt likely to result in an injury,” McCraw wrote. “This is self evident, but we need to ensure that migrants are reminded of this by signage and continued verbal warnings.”
McCraw said he would recommend the department’s medical unit conduct a review of procedures. He wrote that “the priority of life” requires troopers to rescue migrants whose lives are at risk.
A Department of Public Safety spokesman denied that state police put wire around barrels in the river.
A statement issued by Abbott’s office said state authorities give assistance to migrants in distress and defended the state’s placement of razor wire. “No orders or directions have been given under Operation Lone Star that would compromise the lives of those attempting to cross the border illegally,” the statement read. “Texas is deploying every tool and strategy to deter and repel illegal crossings.”
In addition to the alleged injuries from the wire itself, Wingate’s email said that the wire in the river was pushing some migrants to cross in more dangerous locations. He said a mother and two children pulled into deeper water who were later pronounced dead. In total, five people in the Eagle Pass area drowned the first week of July, the email said. The DPS inspector general is investigating all allegations in the trooper’s email.
State Sen. Roland Gutierrez, a Democrat whose district includes Eagle Pass, sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice Tuesday requesting an investigation into the state’s treatment of migrants under Operation Lone Star. “There are few greater sins in this world than watching children scream in agony from ‘traps’ that were set for them by law-enforcement officials,” Gutierrez wrote. “These new orders and policy changes violate federal law and our international agreements with Mexico.”
Some Republicans cheered media reports about the actions alleged in the email written by Wingate. “If in fact [Abbott] is taking a bolder approach to border security by directing DPS troopers to repel illegal crossers, he has my full support,” state Rep. Matt Schaefer wrote on Twitter. “Every Republican legislator should be speaking up as Dems and the media try to shame Abbott into backing down.”
Write to Elizabeth Findell at [email protected]
What's Your Reaction?
