Family of migrants are rescued from the Rio Bravo by U.S. border patrol

US Border patrol pull a soaking baby from the freezing Rio Bravo as they rescue a family with young children while Republicans and Democrats clash over ICE detentions

  • Family with young children rescued by US patrol boat as they tried to cross the Rio Bravo from Mexico 
  • Democrats and Republican negotiators clash over curbing ICE detention numbers on Sunday 
  • Democrats want a cap on number of illegal immigrants caught within the U.S., including criminals
  • Republicans want no caps on the number of immigrants who’ve committed crimes who can be held by ICE

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While Democrat and Republican negotiators remain at odds over border security, dozens of migrants attempt to enter the United States to escape starvation, poverty and political instability in their home countries.

Dramatic photos show a family with young children braving the waters of the Rio Bravo on the US-Mexico border and failing to make it across.

The family, believed to be from Honduras, had to be rescued by a U.S. border patrol boat as they tried to cross the river with their three children on Sunday.  

Out of the water: A U.S. border patrol boat rescues migrants crossing the Rio Bravo towards the United States, seen from Piedras Negras, Mexico on Sunday

Emergency care: A child, rescued from Rio Bravo together with a group of migrants from Honduras while trying to cross towards the United States, is held by a paramedic inside an ambulance in Piedras Negras

Emergency care: A child, rescued from Rio Bravo together with a group of migrants from Honduras while trying to cross towards the United States, is held by a paramedic inside an ambulance in Piedras Negras

Back in Mexico: A migrant from Honduras looks through the window of an ambulance after being rescued from the Rio Bravo after failing to cross it towards the United States

Back in Mexico: A migrant from Honduras looks through the window of an ambulance after being rescued from the Rio Bravo after failing to cross it towards the United States

Meanwhile, Democrat and Republican negotiators clashed over whether to limit the number of migrants authorities can detain, creating a new hurdle for a border security compromise Congress can accept.

With a Friday deadline looming to prevent a second partial government shutdown, the two sides remained separated over how much to spend on President Donald Trump’s promised border wall. 

But rising to the fore on Sunday was a related dispute over curbing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, the federal agency that Republicans see as an emblem of tough immigration policies and Democrats accuse of often going too far. 

People involved in the talks say Democrats have proposed limiting the number of immigrants here illegally who are caught inside the U.S. – not at the border – that the agency can detain. 

Republicans say they don’t want that cap to apply to immigrants caught committing crimes, but Democrats do. 

Struggle: Migrants are watched by U.S. border patrol agents while crossing the Rio Bravo towards the United States, seen from Piedras Negras

Struggle: Migrants are watched by U.S. border patrol agents while crossing the Rio Bravo towards the United States, seen from Piedras Negras

Trying: A migrant carrying a child waits to be picked up by a U.S. border patrol boat while crossing the Rio Bravo towards the United States

Trying: A migrant carrying a child waits to be picked up by a U.S. border patrol boat while crossing the Rio Bravo towards the United States

All on board: The migrant family pulled from the river are taken by a U.S. border patrol boat

All on board: The migrant family pulled from the river are taken by a U.S. border patrol boat

Stranded: A group of migrants from Honduras are seen trying to cross  the Rio Bravo late at night

Stranded: A group of migrants from Honduras are seen trying to cross the Rio Bravo late at night

Democrats say they proposed their cap to force ICE to concentrate its internal enforcement efforts on dangerous immigrants, not those who lack legal authority to be in the country but are productive and otherwise pose no threat. 

Democrats have proposed reducing the current number of beds ICE uses to detain immigrants here illegally from 40,520 to 35,520.

But within that limit, they’ve also proposed limiting to 16,500 the number for immigrants here illegally caught within the U.S., including criminals.

Republicans want no caps on the number of immigrants who’ve committed crimes who can be held by ICE.

Trump used the dispute to cast Democrats as soft on criminals.

‘I don’t think the Dems on the Border Committee are being allowed by their leaders to make a deal. They are offering very little money for the desperately needed Border Wall & now, out of the blue, want a cap on convicted violent felons to be held in detention!’ Trump tweeted Sunday.   

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk