Body of possible drowned migrant found in Socorro canal in El Paso County

Daniel Borunda, El Paso Times
·2 min read
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The body of a migrant believed to have drowned was found in a canal in Socorro, police said.

The man's body was found about 7 a.m. Thursday, April 11, in the Franklin Feeder canal running along fields and behind a neighborhood in the 11200 block of Santa Barbara Drive, Socorro police said.

Border deaths: 2 dead in El Paso County canal drownings near border in San Elizario, Tornillo

The Socorro Police Department said that it appears that the man was a migrant who fell into the canal and drowned. The migrant's name and country of origin was not immediately available as an investigation continues.

An "auxilio" sign with a number to indicate its precise location is posted in Spanish on a fence next to on canal just north of the border wall in El Paso's Lower Valley in 2023.
An "auxilio" sign with a number to indicate its precise location is posted in Spanish on a fence next to on canal just north of the border wall in El Paso's Lower Valley in 2023.

Since the release of water from upstream dams last month for the irrigation season, the Rio Grande and canals in the El Paso area are flowing with high levels of water.

The canals may appear deceptively calm and small but flow with potentially dangerous undercurrents capable of dragging a person underwater. Migrant drownings in El Paso-area canals are common.

Migrant deaths continue in El Paso border region

Drownings, falls off the border wall, rough desert terrain and extreme heat are among the potentially deadly hazards faced by undocumented migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in the El Paso region.

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So far in fiscal year 2024, the U.S. Border Patrol reported that there have been 34 migrant deaths in the agency's El Paso Sector, which covers the westernmost tip of Texas and all of New Mexico. Border Patrol agents performed more than 300 migrant rescues during that period.

At a border safety event on Tuesday this week , Border Patrol officials repeated their warnings to migrants not to risk their lives on dangerous journeys attempting to enter the United States illegally.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Body in Socorro canal possibly El Paso border migrant drowning case