EAGLE PASS, Texas — More than a year after Texas soldiers fenced off and locked out Border Patrol agents from accessing the United States-Mexico border as thousands of illegal immigrants surged across, state authorities have unchained the gate and reopened the door to their federal partners, the Washington Examiner has learned.

Gustavo Alfonso Garcia Olivares died at 24, drowning in the Rio Grande not far from where he was buried Thursday at the Maverick County Cemetery in Eagle Pass.

Mexican national Federico De Los Rios Rios pleaded guilty to drug smuggling, facing 10 years to life in prison after trying to smuggle fentanyl and cocaine into the US.

A small group of people people gathered on Thursday at the Maverick County Cemetery in Eagle Pass, Texas for the funeral of Venezuelan migrant Gustavo Alfonso Garcia Olivares, 24.

Officials in Texas discuss strategies to enhance border security, critiquing previous administration's policies.