San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg has confirmed that 46 illegal Migrants were found dead in an abandoned tractor-trailer on a remote back road in Texas.
16 others were taken to hospitals with heat-related illnesses, including four children, according to Fire Chief Charles Hood. The patients were hot to the touch, he said, dehydrated, and no water was found in the trailer,
“They were suffering from heat stroke and exhaustion. It was a refrigerated tractor-trailer, but there was no visible working AC unit on that rig.”
Police Chief William McManus said, the illegal migrants were discovered after a city worker heard cries for help from the trailer at about 6 p.m. Hours later body bags lined the street.
“This is nothing short of a horrific human tragedy,” Nirenberg said.
Authorities have yet to release the home countries of the illegal migrants and how long they were abandoned on the side of the road in the sweltering heat. Temperatures approached 100 degrees on Monday.
Authorities believe the incident is part of a human smuggling attempt into the United States and three people have been taken into custody, but it is unclear if they are connected with human trafficking.
The investigation is being led by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott slammed Joe Biden over the deaths and the ongoing crisis at the border that has led to dangerous and deadly situations for illegal migrants,
“These deaths are on Biden. They are a result of his deadly open border policies. They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law,” Abbott added.
At Least 42 People Found Dead Inside Truck Carrying Migrants In Texas.
These deaths are on Biden.
They are a result of his deadly open border policies.
They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law. https://t.co/8KG3iAwlEk
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 28, 2022
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported 557 deaths on the southwest border in the 12-month period ending Sept. 30, more than double the 247 deaths reported in the previous year and the highest since it began keeping track in 1998. Most are related to heat exposure.
CBP has not published a death tally for this year but said that the Border Patrol performed 14,278 “search-and-rescue missions” in a seven-month period through May, exceeding the 12,833 missions performed during the previous 12-month period and up from 5,071 the year before.
Joe Biden quickly reversed Trump era immigration policies leading to a massive, record setting influx of illegal migrants crossing the southern border since he took office.
In the last 8 months, according to CBP data, 1,536,899 illegal migrants have crossed the Southern border with about half of those illegal migrants allowed entry into the United States.
DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas released new guidelines at the end of 2021 which included the new rule that being in the country illegally is not longer grounds to be deported.
