Video Shows Texas National Guard Looking on as Migrant Mother Holding Baby Pleads for Help in Rio Grande

Texas National Guard officers appeared to ignore a migrant mother's desperate pleas for help as she waded in the Rio Grande, asking them to bring their boat closer as she could not stand any longer, in a video shared Tuesday.

The footage, obtained by Texas Public Radio, sparked outrage among migrant advocacy groups, with one calling the officers' inaction a "callous disregard for human life," as the woman was too tired to swim across the water.

A member of LatinoJustice PRLDEF filmed the scene on Dec. 12 from the bank of the river in Eagle Pass. The woman, who appeared to be a migrant seeking to enter the United States, was holding a child in her arms.

"I can't walk anymore," the woman was heard saying in Spanish. "Hey, please help me! I'm begging you, please help me," as the baby is heard crying.

The officers sat in a nearby boat, but at a distance that she could not reach.

"Please don't abandon me here," she cried, as those on the Texas side of the river speak in hushed voices about the National Guard not taking care of her.

The League of United Latin American Citizens said the woman appeared to be at risk of drowning and demanded an immediate federal investigation into the incident.

"LULAC is outraged by what we see in this graphic video," Domingo Garcia, LULAC National President, said in a press release. "We demand an immediate investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice and intervention by the Biden administration.

"These images do not lie. Shame on them, their commanders, and the politicians enabling this grotesque operation's funding."

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection boat was then seen speeding toward the area, with those filming believing they would stop and help. Instead, the boat soared past, with the waves appearing to push the mother and child under the water for a moment.

Those eyewitnesses told Texas Public Radio that the woman did eventually make it back to the Mexico bank of the river.

The Rio Grande has been the focus of Texas Governor Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star, which is an effort to deal with the border crisis which he argues is not getting enough attention from Washington D.C.

LatinoJustice PRLDEF were only able to film in the area after getting special permission related to Operation Lone Star.

“The first thing that we saw is this really stark comparison of what’s on the right and left of the river,” Priscilla Lugo, from the organization, told TPR. “When you're going downstream, you see on the [Mexican side] Piedras Negras, this beautiful park, murals, people walking, people fishing, and people just hanging out enjoying the park.

"And on the [Texas] side, it looks like a war zone because all you see are multiple layers of concertina wire and there's shipping containers and more concertina wire on top of the shipping containers. And it was just really stark seeing the differences.”

LULAC said the video showed the reality of the practices happening at Abbott's direction.

"I am shocked and saddened beyond words," Lydia Guzman, LULAC National Immigration Chair, added. "To see the inhumanity of guardsmen ignoring a woman and her baby in risk of drowning within reach but them being unwilling to extend even a hand to help is beyond belief.

"This video exposes the heartless and inhumane practices of National Guard troops under Operation Lone Star."

A CBP spokesperson said the agency did not have a statement and deferred to the Texas National Guard, adding that its vessel was likely on the way to deal with another incident.

The Texas National Guard responded to a request for comment on Dec. 22, saying it was aware of the incident.

"Texas National Guard Soldiers approached by boat and determined that there were no signs of medical distress, injury or incapacitation and they had the ability to return the short distance back to the Mexican shore," the statement read.

CBP reportedly dealt with 10,000 migrants at the southwest border every day in the first 17 days of December, with officers stretched trying to manage legal entry points and illegal ones created by smugglers.

On Monday, Gov. Abbott signed a bill which would allow Texas to detain and repatriate migrants, bypassing federal agencies. The move has proved controversial, with Democrats asking the Attorney General to block the legislation and a group of civil rights organizations opting to sue the state.