U.S. Border Patrol officials are begging illegal immigrants to stop attempting to cross the Rio Grande River that divides Mexico from Texas after at least nine of them drowned in the past week while trying to get into the United States.

The chief Border Patrol Agent for the Del Rio Sector in Texas, Jason Owens, told media in South Texas that recent rains have swollen the river and created dangerous currents in some sectors. The rains are expected to worsen in the coming week, he said.

In a “warning of extreme importance,” Mr. Owens said the agency continues to see large groups of migrants — some of them in groups of 100 or 200 — attempting to make the crossing every day, despite the dangers.

“At least nine individuals have died in the last few days attempting to cross this area,” he said. “In an effort to prevent further loss of life, we are asking everyone to please avoid crossing illegally.”

Last week, Border Patrol agents and their Mexican counterparts recovered the bodies of nine people near Eagle Pass, about 140 miles southwest of San Antonio, after dozens were swept downstream by the currents.

A spokeswoman for the Border Patrol, Cecilia Barreda, said the agency, along with local law enforcement and search-and-rescue teams, was still searching for victims on Saturday.

After months of little or no rain, the region has been inundated in recent days. The National Weather Service told the Associated Press that water levels in the river near Eagle Pass area rose from three feet to five feet in a matter of days, and the river is currently running at five times its normal pace.

Eagle Pass has this year become one of the busiest sectors for illegal immigrants trying to enter the United States, with nearly 50,000 people stopped by agents in July alone. Most of those detained were processed by immigration authorities and released pending asylum hearings that can take years to process.

About 60 percent of the migrants apprehended in the Del Rio sector, which stretches 245 miles along the Rio Grande River, in July were from Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua. The area, perceived as being safer than some of the larger cities further south that are controlled by smuggling cartels, has also been a favorite crossing point for migrants from Haiti in recent years.

Analysts say 2022 is shaping up to be the busiest year for illegal immigration at the border ever. At the end of July, nearly 1.8 million had been apprehended, and officials expect that number to easily surpass 2 million by the end of the fiscal year that ends on September 30. Hundreds of thousands of additional so-called “gotaways” managed to elude authorities and make it across the border.
Thursday’s drownings was one of the deadliest days along the U.S. border in recent memory. In a news release last month, the Border Patrol said it had discovered the bodies of more than 200 dead migrants in the sector from October through July.