At least 46 bodies found in the trailer, San Antonio officials say
At least 53 people were found dead, “stacked” inside the tractor-trailer of a truck near San Antonio, Texas, in what authorities believe may be the deadliest human trafficking incident in history modern United States.
Another 16 people, including four children, were taken to local hospitals in different conditions, according to officials. Police have arrested three people. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is investigating.
A city worker heard a scream calling for help from the abandoned truck before discovering the horrific scene on Monday, according to San Antonio Police Chief William McManus.
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden called the “tragic loss of life” in Texas “horrible and heartbreaking,” while San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg called it a “horrible human tragedy.”
Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard confirmed that the nationalities of some of the victims who died inside the three-digit truck had been identified. Among the victims are 22 Mexicans, seven Guatemalans and two Hondurans.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott will hold a press conference on the southern border Wednesday afternoon, where his office says it plans to address “the ongoing response to President Biden’s growing border crisis.”
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Mexican authorities publish a photo of the alleged driver of a tractor-trailer
Mexican authorities have released a photo of Homero Zamarano, the driver of the tractor-trailer found in San Antonio with dozens of migrants killed and seriously injured inside.
Zamarano is expected to appear in court on Thursday.
Josh Marcus June 29, 2022 11:10 p.m.
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11 found in a tractor-trailer tragedy still hospitalized
Eleven of the more than 60 people who were found Monday inside a trailer in San Antonio, Texas, remain in hospital, according to the Immigration and Customs Service.
Among those hospitalized is one of three suspects detained by San Antonio police, KENS 5 reports, citing the Mexican consulate.
A total of 53 people found in the truck have died, according to authorities.
It is the deadliest human trafficking incident in U.S. history.
Josh Marcus June 29, 2022 10:50 p.m.
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Texas will deploy “attack teams” to bolster border security
Following the discovery of dozens of dead migrants smuggled into a truck in San Antonio, Texas, it is committed to deploying at least five “attack teams” of Department of Public Security (DPS) agents to bolster border security.
Each team of 20 soldiers will focus on how to “detect, deter and detain” unauthorized migrants and traffickers at the border.
“We will deploy attack teams of DPS special agents to monitor and search for these cloned vehicles, stolen vehicles that are staged along the roads used to traffic people … and also to identify storage houses, which it is very important to disrupt the Mexican cartel. operations, “Texas DPS Director Steven McCraw told a news conference Wednesday.
The state also plans to install new border barriers, such as wire and wall-like panels on private, state-controlled land that accept these measures.
Texas has been operating its own border policy at the time, building a state version of Donald Trump’s border wall and sending members of the state National Guard to the border, an effort that has been fraught with problems and criticism.
Josh Marcus June 29, 2022 10:20 p.m.
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The Supreme Court ruling on the “We Remain in Mexico” political controversy is imminent
The tragedy of San Antonio migrants has drawn attention to the Biden administration’s border policies.
And a Supreme Court ruling is expected in the coming days on one of the most controversial aspects of the border regime.
The high court will weigh the so-called “Rest in Mexico” policy. The rule, launched under Donald Trump launched in 2019, forced asylum seekers to wait in Mexico while their applications were processed, leaving thousands of people in miserable camps in border cities for months or even years. years.
The Biden administration tried to stop the program the first day in office, but a judge forced the White House to reinstate the policy in December, amid a lawsuit from Texas and Missouri.
Josh Marcus June 29, 2022 9:50 p.m.
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According to the report, a truck carrying dozens of migrants was “cloned.”
The truck that was found abandoned on the side of the road in San Antonio Monday night was apparently “cloned,” according to a San Antonio Express News report.
The owners of the truck company, Mr. Felipe Betancourt and his son, Felipe Jr., told the press that someone had tagged the truck found Monday night with the same identification numbers used on one of their trucks, provided by the US Department. of Transportation and the Texas Department of Transportation.
The cloned truck noticeably lacked a key piece of identification that would have verified if it was one of the trucks associated with the parent company: a company logo, called Betancourt Trucking and Harvesting.
“Ours is sitting here,” Felipe Jr. said in a phone interview with the local news outlet. “My truck doesn’t have a window next to it like the one in San Antonio. … The one in San Antonio is not our trailer. “
Josh Marcus June 29, 2022 9:30 p.m.
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Kamala Harris criticizes Abbott for going “straight into politics”
During an interview with NPR on Wednesday, the Democrat answered questions from co-presenter Asma Khalid about the overthrow of Roe v Wade before the couple returned to talk about issues south of the border.
“I’m sure you saw that last night there were at least 50 migrants who died in a tractor trailer in San Antonio, Texas,” Ms. Khalid began. “I wanted to give you an idea of: are there new plans to address the problem through administrative powers, through executive actions, that you all think you can’t do?”
“I think raising the question of how the governor of this state responded really highlights part of the problem because his response, where there are 50 corpses in his state, is to go straight into politics instead of addressing the realities of the state. problem, “Ms. Harris said.
“The realities of the issue include what we need to do on the issue of smuggling, for example,” the vice president noted, adding that the Biden administration “is taking it quite seriously.”
Continue reading The Independent’s full report below:
Josh Marcus June 29, 2022 9:05 PM
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“Vote for a governor who cares about the people”: a San Antonio official bluntly reproaches state officials
Bexar County Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores, who represents the district where the truck was abandoned Monday, gave a passionate response when asked by a journalist how she reacted to state officials handling the tragedy. occurred in his region this week.
“I mean, I can give you my personal opinion,” Mrs. Clay-Flores began. “People have to register to vote and vote for a Texas governor who cares about the people. Period.”
Watch the full clip below:
Josh Marcus June 29, 2022 8:45 p.m.
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Greg Abbott calls on Biden to restore (still exist) programs to stop border crisis
The Texas governor is asking Joe Biden to make multiple changes to reduce the number of people crossing the border illegally and endangering themselves, even though most of the policies Greg Abbott mentioned are still in place.
Abbott has blamed the Biden administration for the tragedy of human trafficking in San Antonio and called on the White House to continue building Donald Trump’s border wall, which will automatically remove most cross-border people under a pandemic rule called Title 42 and forcing asylum. that applicants remain in Mexico during the claim process.
Biden has tried to end the last two programs, but they have remained in place, thanks to Texas demands. In some sectors, the construction of the border wall continues, although Biden has overseen a general frieze of the new construction of the controversial project.
The Texas governor also stated that Mr. Biden is “promoting illegal immigration” by not being “inflexible that he will not tolerate any illegal immigration.”
“We don’t want it to ever happen again,” Abbott continued. “Joe Biden may not come close to make sure it doesn’t happen again, but Texas is doing its part to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
(The White House has been adamant that unauthorized migrants should not come to the United States.)
Look: Kamala Harris tells undocumented migrants in Guatemala: “Don’t come to the US”
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris urged undocumented migrants from Central America not to try to enter the United States during a press conference in Guatemala. “I want to be clear to the people in this region who are thinking about doing this dangerous walk in the United States … Mexico Border: Don’t come,” he said. “The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our border.” Harris, who is on his first trip abroad since taking office, has been commissioned by President Joe Biden to temper a wave of migration by investing in a region plagued by violence. , poverty and corruption.
During Wednesday’s press conference, Mr. Abbott and Texas public safety officials described more plans to militarize the border, including additional miles of fences, wire, and wall-like border barriers.
As border experts told The Independent, these barriers in fact increase the risk to migrants and the attraction of illegal smugglers, as they push those who cross the border into dangerous and remote terrain.
“There will never be a point of militarization where the U.S. can reach the border that will completely stop all these flows,” according to migration expert Jessica Bolter. “The environmental and safety factors that are driving people to leave, as well as economic factors, especially during …