'These deaths are on Biden': Rep Texas governor blames president after at least 46 deaths

[MenInG]

The bodies of at least 46 people have been found inside a lorry in Texas.

Fire officials said they found "stacks of bodies" and confirmed that 16 people, including four children, were taken to hospital and are "hopeful to survive".

City officials believe the dead were migrants.

No children are among the dead in the truck, which was found next to train tracks in the city's Southwest Side neighbourhood.

Following the incident, Texas governor Greg Abbott tweeted that "these deaths are on Biden", adding: "They are the result of his deadly open border policies."

His comments were aimed at President Joe Biden's administration and the pandemic-era rule that denies migrants, largely from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, a chance to seek asylum but encourages repeat attempts because there are no legal consequences for getting caught.

Since the law was introduced in March 2020, people illegally crossing the border have been expelled more than two million times.

However, Beto O'Rourke, the Democratic candidate running against Mr Abbott, called for urgent action to "dismantle human smuggling rings and replace them with expanded avenues for legal migration".

Patients were hot to the touch and suffering from heat exhaustion

In May a record 239,000 undocumented migrants were detained crossing into the country from Mexico.

The San Antonio police chief, William McManus, confirmed that three people are in custody and a federal investigation has been launched.

Mr McManus said a person who works in a nearby building heard a cry for help and came out to investigate.

The worker found the lorry doors partially opened and looked inside to find a number of bodies.

He added this was the largest incident of this kind in the city.

And in a news conference, San Antonio's fire chief, Charles Hood, said the truck was refrigerated but there was no water or working air conditioning, adding the patients were hot to the touch, and suffering from heat exhaustion.

"We are not supposed to open up a truck and see stacks of bodies. Nobody comes to work for that," he said.

A spokesperson for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said its Homeland Security Investigations division was investigating "an alleged human smuggling event" in coordination with local police.

San Antonio's mayor Ron Nirenberg said that this "is nothing short of a human tragedy", adding: "Our job is not to ask why. Our job is to ask how we can help."

The Secretary of Foreign Affairs for Mexico, Marcel Ebrard, said that a consul is on its way to the neighbourhood and that at least two of those in hospital were from Guatemala.

"Tragedy in Texas. Reportedly suffocated in trailer box," he wrote on Twitter.

"The trailer has EU plates, superimposed, to circulate without revision. Very likely authorship of traffickers."

Although no official cause of death has been recorded, temperatures in San Antonio, which is about 160 miles (250 km) from the Mexican border, hit a high of 103F (39.4C) on Monday with high humidity.

SKY

 

[daytrader]

Number of migrants found dead inside truck on Texas/Mexico border rises to 50
The bodies were discovered in a truck that appeared to have no air conditioning or water and were "hot to the touch" as temperatures approached 38C


The number of migrants who were found dead inside a truck in Texas has risen to 50, Mexico's foreign minister has said.

In a post on Twitter, Marcelo Ebrard said that some 22 Mexicans, seven Guatemalans and two Hondurans were identified among the dead.

The bodies were discovered in a truck that appeared to have no air conditioning or water and were "hot to the touch" as temperatures approached 38C, San Antonio fire chief Charles Hood said.

Officials said "stacks of bodies" were found inside the vehicle, close to railway lines in a remote area on the city's southern outskirts after a worker heard a cry for help from the truck shortly before 6pm on Monday.

Sixteen other people found inside the trailer have been hospitalised, including four minors, but no children were among the dead, the San Antonio Fire Department said.

A criminal investigation into "an alleged human smuggling event" is being conducted by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations division along with local police.

Following the incident, Texas governor Greg Abbott tweeted that "these deaths are on Biden", adding: "They are the result of his deadly open border policies."

A rule introduced under the Trump administration in March 2020 during the COVID pandemic and kept by current President Joe Biden denies migrants - largely from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador - a chance to seek asylum.

But is thought to encourage repeat border crossing attempts because there are no legal consequences for getting caught.

Since the law was introduced, people crossing the border illegally have been expelled more than two million times.

Mr Biden has reversed some of his predecessor's immigration policies including halting construction of the border wall, and reaffirming protections for some migrants.

Beto O'Rourke, the Democratic candidate running against Mr Abbott, called for urgent action to "dismantle human smuggling rings and replace them with expanded avenues for legal migration".

South Texas has long been the busiest area for illegal border crossings.

Migrants ride in vehicles through border patrol checkpoints to San Antonio, the closest major city, from which point they disperse across the United States.

In May, a record 239,000 undocumented migrants were detained crossing into the country from Mexico.

The latest incident is among the deadliest of the tragedies that have claimed thousands of lives in recent decades as people attempt to cross the US border from Mexico.

Ten migrants died in 2017 after being trapped inside a truck parked at a Walmart in San Antonio.

In 2003, the bodies of 19 migrants were found in a sweltering truck southeast of San Antonio.

https://news.sky.com/story/number-o...xas-mexico-border-has-risen-to-fifty-12641913

 

[MenInG]

The man suspected to have been driving the truck in which dozens of migrants died during a people smuggling attempt in Texas pretended to be a survivor to try to avoid arrest.

Homero Zamorano Jr, 45, was arrested near the scene after he was found hiding in a bush, according to federal prosecutors.

The head of Mexico's National Migration Institute Francisco Garduno said on Wednesday that he "tried to pass himself off as one of the survivors" when he was detained in San Antonio.

Zamorano and a second suspect, Christian Martinez, 28, have both been charged for their alleged involvement in the deaths of 53 migrants.

Martinez was charged with a single count of conspiracy to transport illegal aliens, while Zamorano has been charged with one count of alien smuggling resulting in death.

If guilty, both face life sentences in prison, or the death penalty, the US Justice Department said.

The truck was carrying migrants from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.

It was found abandoned on Monday on the outskirts of San Antonio, with officials finding the back door of the truck ajar with "stacks of bodies" inside, many of them hot to the touch.

As well as 53 deaths, a further 11 people, including children, remain in hospital.

Temperatures in the area that day were recorded at 103F (39.4C) and authorities said they found no water supplies or signs of working air conditioning inside the cargo trailer.

While Zamorano was arrested at the scene, Martinez was detained after investigators linked him to the truck driver through Zamorano's mobile phone.

Mexican nationals Juan Francisco D'Luna-Bilboa and Juan Claudio D'Luna-Mendez have also been charged as suspects.

A preliminary hearing is expected to take place on Friday.

Of those who died, 27 were from Mexico, 14 from Honduras, seven from Guatemala and two from El Salvador, according to Mexico's government.

The majority of the dead were male, but 13 were women, Bexar County medical examiner's office said.

Surveillance footage shows the moment the lorry passed through a border checkpoint in Laredo, Texas on Monday before the migrants are believed to have boarded.

Where do US migrants come from and how do they get there?

"The migrants were already on US soil," before entering the truck, Mr Garduno said.

The lorry reportedly passed two further border cameras in Texas as it moved deeper into US territory.

The migrants are likely to have crossed the border in smaller groups before being held in a safe house in Texas and then placed in the lorry to be moved further into the US, according to a source at Mexico's migration institute.

https://news.sky.com/story/texas-ac...be-survivor-when-arrested-police-say-12642881

 

[Champ_Pal]

It will be a never ending problem. While Democrats and woke liberals bark that USA is the worst racist nation in the world, thousands of people still keep showing up at its borders trying to smuggle themselves into this irredeemable racist nation.