A Texas National Guard soldier died Friday as he tried to rescue migrants who became stuck in rip currents while they desperately tried to cross the border, state officials said.
The soldier, who has only been identified as a 22-year-old man, was pulled from the Rio Grande by a rip current near the city of Eagle Pass, which borders Mexico. He was part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s border crackdown plan, Operation Lone Star, according to The Washington Post.
The soldier is one of 10 people who have drowned along the Rio Grande due to violent rip currents, Lt. Christopher Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety said.
