ICE's SmartLINK app tracks migrants by the thousands. Does it work?
CBSN
On an April day in 2022, a Venezuelan migrant stood on the banks of the powerful Rio Grande. He could see his future directly in front of him as he cautiously waded into the currents. With each step, his 6-foot-4-inch frame began to disappear beneath the murky green water.
"The water was up to my neck," he said. "I held my backpack over my head and my feet could barely touch the ground. … I was afraid that I would be swept away. Once I saw the Border Patrol on the other side, I knew that I had to get there."
He heard horror stories of this perilous leg of the journey. Last year, more than 700 migrants drowned while trying to cross the river, which snakes nearly 1,900 miles along the U.S. southern border. Border Patrol apprehended him in Del Rio, Texas. He was soaked and exhausted but said he could finally exhale for the first time in three months.
