Rains drench migrants crossing Rio Grande river into United States

[May 20, 2021]    By Adrees Latif and Mimi Dwyer

LA JOYA, Texas (Reuters) - Heavy rain drenched dozens of migrants who crossed the Rio Grande river that divides the United States from Mexico into La Joya, Texas Wednesday morning, as storms complicated an already chaotic scene at the border.

An asylum-seeking migrant mother from Central America weeps as she carries her son through heavy rainfall after crossing the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico in La Joya, Texas, U.S., May 19, 2021. REUTERS/Adrees Latif

More than 100 migrants walked down a dirt road leading from the river to a baseball field where border agents had gathered to process them, according to a Reuters witness. Some were distraught, crying as they held their children in the cold rain and huddling in a pavilion on the field. Others pulled soaking identity documents from their bags to try to show them to authorities.

Border patrol agents scrambled to load as many people as they could fit onto a bus. People jostled to board as more walked onto the field after crossing.

The number of people crossing the southern border hit a 20-year high in April, creating a political and humanitarian challenge for President Joe Biden, who has pledged to treat migrants humanely but mostly left in place Trump-era restrictions that shut the border to most asylum seekers.

On Wednesday, the National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorms and flash flood warning for much of the Rio Grande Valley, with parts of the region receiving more than 3 inches (7.6 cm) of rain.

(Reporting by Mimi Dwyer; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)

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