Critics have said that a lack of guidance and equipment to perform life-saving rescues leaves soldiers dangerously unprepared to deal with a common scenario on the border while dehumanizing the migrants attempting to cross the river.
Laura Peña, director of the Beyond Borders program at the Texas Civil Rights Project, said asking troops not to jump in the water to rescue drowning migrants “sends the message that migrants’ lives are not worth saving.”
He added that military officials should be training and equipping the soldiers stationed near the river for water rescues. Experts cautioned that providing troops rescue equipment without the training could lead to more fatalities. "When we field new equipment, we also want to train people," Suelzer said."That's step number two, don't give them a piece of equipment they've never trained on."
Jenn Budd, a former Border Patrol agent, said agents assess a situation before deciding whether to jump into the river to help a drowning migrant, but they are also provided tools and training to aid the rescue. “There’s no excuse for the military to not have a policy,” said Budd, now a Border Patrol critic. “You’re putting the lives of the soldiers at risk when you don’t properly train them and make them understand that this is a flowing river.”
Budd said military leaders are also not taking into account the trauma that can develop from deciding not to jump into a river and watching a person die. That can affect the troops’ morale, which hasfollowing deplorable living and working conditions during the mission and a number of suicides tied to Operation Lone Star.
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