Brandon Judd on death of Texas soldier at border: 'This didn't have to happen'

National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd said Monday he and his colleagues are "devastated" after Texas National Guardsman Bishop E. Evans drowned while saving the lives of two illegal immigrant drug traffickers crossing over the Rio Grande.

Judd joined "America's Newsroom" to discuss how the Biden administration's failure to secure the southern border cost the life of a young soldier.

"I can't even begin to tell you how we feel right now. … Because so many of our resources are being pulled out of the field, we have to have National Guardsmen, [Texas] DPS fill the gaps that are left, to try to protect American citizens and keep fentanyl from crossing our borders illegally," said Judd.

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The soldier went missing on Friday after entering a river in Eagle Pass to help two migrants who officials say "appeared to be drowning as they illegally crossed the river from Mexico to the United States."

In a statement, the Texas Military Dept. said that initial reports from Texas Rangers "have determined that the two migrants were involved in illicit transnational narcotics trafficking." They are both in Customs and Border Protection (CBP) custody.

Fox News' Bill Melugin confirmed Monday afternoon that Evans' body was recovered.

Judd said if proper measures were in place to control the southern border, National Guard troops wouldn't be deployed to the area to assist Border Patrol, whose agents have been increasingly used to process migrants.

"If we would have had the proper program in place, we wouldn't need the National Guardsmen," Judd told Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino.

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Judd said Evans was "pushed down under the water" during the encounter with suspected drug traffickers.

"This is a tragic situation and it didn't need to happen."

Fox News' Bill Melugin and Adam Shaw contributed to this report