Three migrants drown at US border as Texas, White House feud

FILE PHOTO: Texas National Guard troops watch a Mexican official prevent a group of people from entering the Rio Grande River across from Shelby Park at the U.S.-Mexico border in Eagle Pass, Texas, U.S., January 12, 2024. REUTERS/Kaylee Greenlee Beal/File Photo

(Reuters) -A woman and two children drowned in the Rio Grande as they tried to the enter the U.S. from Mexico on Friday night after Texas military officers prevented federal border officials from aiding them, U.S. border officials and a member of Congress said.

The deaths come as a dispute over immigration intensifies between Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, and the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, with a record number of migrants having illegally crossed the border since Biden took office in 2021.