The body of a Mexican-born Houston volunteer - a young man who was living in the US under an immigration scheme Donald Trump plans to scrap - has been recovered from the floodwaters, four days after he went to help rescue people trapped in the water.

The family of 31-year-old Alonso Guillen, said they had warned him not to set out on an rescue mission with two friends, given the severity of the floods. But the group insisted, saying they wanted to help people in need.

Mr Guillen and two friends set off on their mission at midnight on Wednesday and did not return. Their vessel hit a bridge and sank in Cypress Creek, according to the Houston Chronicle.

Mr Guillen was one of the 800,000 immigrants brought to the US as a child under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme, a scheme introduced in 2012 by Barack Obama and which Mr Trump is planning to terminate.

Man plays piano in home flooded by Hurricane Harvey

In Texas, he worked as DJ Ocho, a radio presenter with 101.9-FM in Lufkin, located around 120 miles from Houston.

Reports said the body of Mr Guillen was spotted on Friday. A second person, 25-year-old Tomas Carreon Jr, was also killed and found floating in the river.

It was not until Sunday that the family of Mr Guillen was able to recover the young man’s body. Reports said Mr Guillen’ father watched from the shore with other family members, and that one of those relatives entered the water and moved the body it to the river bank.

The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Show all 19 1 /19 The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey A tattered U.S. flag damaged in Hurricane Harvey, flies in Conroe, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Lisa Rehr holds her four-year old son Maximus, after they lost their home to Hurricane Harvey, as they await to be evacuated with their belongings from Rockport, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People line up for food as others rest at the George R. Brown Convention Center AP Photo/LM Otero The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Volunteers with The American Red Cross register evacuees at the George R. Brown Convention Center Reuters/Nick Oxford The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Soldiers with the Texas Army National Guard help the residents of Cyprus Creek Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Residents wade through floodwater Reuters/Nick Oxford The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Residents walk along the flooded roadway of Texas 249 as they evacuate their adjacent neighborhoods EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey A man floats past a truck submerged on a freeway flooded by Tropical Storm Harvey on Sunday AP The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People are rescued by airboat as they evacuate from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey in Dickinson, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey James Archiable carries his bike through the flooded intersection at Taylor and Usenet near downtown Houston, Texas EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey A massive sinkhole opened up on a motorway in Rosenburg, a city 25 miles southwest of Houston, Texas Rosenberg Police The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People are rescued from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey in an armored police mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle in Dickinson, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People are rescued from flood waters from Hurricane Harvey on a boat in Dickinson, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Evacuees are airlifted in a US Coast Guard helicopter after flooding due to Hurricane Harvey inundated neighborhoods in Houston, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Evacuees leave a US Coast Guard helicopter after being rescued from flooding due to Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas Reuters The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Residents look on at a submerged motorway during a break in the rain in Houston, Texas EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey People photograph the submerged motorway interchange EPA The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Debris lies on the ground after a building was destroyed by Hurricane Harvey in Aransas Pass, Texas AP The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey Dominic Dominguez searches for his boat in a boat storage facility that was heavily damaged by Hurricane Harvey near Rockport, Texas EPA

“Thank you, God, for the time I had with him,” said his father.

The Chronicle said Mr Guillen’s mother, Ruiz de Guillen, was unable to be present because was stuck in the border town of Piedras Negras in Mexico while trying to obtain legal status to join her family in the US. It said she had applied for a humanitarian visa but that US Customs and Border Protection refused her request.

“When are with God, there are no borders. Man made borders on this earth,” she said.