According to US media reports on the 28th, the death toll of immigrants found in a large truck in San Antonio, Texas, by US law enforcement officers on the 27th rose to 50. It is one of the deadliest immigrant deaths in the United States in recent years.

According to US media reports on the 28th, the death toll of immigrants found in a large truck in San Antonio, Texas, by US law enforcement officers on the 27th rose to 50. It is one of the deadliest immigrant deaths in the United States in recent years.

U.S. President Biden said that preliminary reports showed that the tragedy was caused by smugglers or human traffickers. Biden said that the U.S. government will continue to do its best to combat human smuggling and trafficking.

The Office of the United Nations Secretary-General issued a statement expressing sadness over the discovery of 50 immigrants dead in a truck in San Antonio, Texas, on the evening of the 27th. The statement emphasized that the United States and Mexican authorities must investigate and bring to justice all those involved in leading to this tragedy. The statement also called for the development of a comprehensive strategy for safe, orderly and regular migration in the region.

This is not the first time

emergency personnel have worked at the scene of an immigrant death. The latest data from the US government shows that in May this year, US border law enforcement officers arrested nearly 240,000 illegal immigrants at the US-Mexico border, setting a new high. Texas is located in the south-central United States, bordering Mexico. In July 2017, a truck carrying 39 immigrants was found in the parking lot of a supermarket in San Antonio. There was no water or air conditioning in the truck. The 10 people in the truck died of heat stroke, suffocation and dehydration.

"Piles of corpses" in the carriage at a high temperature of 38 degrees Celsius

According to San Antonio police and fire officials, at about 18:00 on the 27th, a man found a suspected abandoned large truck at an intersection in the city and heard what he heard. A cry for help came from the carriage. When he got closer, he saw someone dead in the carriage and immediately called the police.

After law enforcement and rescue personnel arrived at the scene, they found "piles of corpses" in the carriage. There was no water in the carriage, and the air conditioner was not working. The survivors had high body temperatures and were weak, and could not even get out of the car on their own. Since June, Texas has been experiencing a heat wave. According to the weather department, the highest temperature in San Antonio reached 38 degrees Celsius on the 27th. American media reported that the actual temperature was higher in crowded carriages.

According to reports, officials at the site of the incident said on the 28th that in addition to the 46 immigrant bodies found in the large truck compartment, four other people died after being sent to the hospital. The dead include 39 men and 11 women. Mexican Foreign Minister Ebrard said on social media that 22 of the 50 dead were from Mexico, 7 were from Guatemala, 2 were from Honduras, and the remaining 19 people have not yet been identified.

Container truck turned into a tool for illegal immigration

Three people including the truck driver were arrested

According to the current investigation, the local police believe that the truck carrying illegal immigrants came from Laredo, a U.S. border city on the border with Mexico. The police have arrested three people, including the truck driver.

The Mexican Immigration Service (INM) stated that the container truck did not transit from Mexico into the United States. According to the existing monitoring equipment at the US-Mexico border and land ports, it is impossible for such a container truck carrying a large number of immigrants to escape monitoring and cross the border into the United States. The Mexican Immigration Service pointed out that the large number of immigrants who died in the container truck this time most likely crossed the border from Mexico to the United States in small groups of several people, and then gathered in the United States and moved in the United States in the container truck.

Texas is located in the south-central part of the United States and borders Mexico. Illegal border crossings often occur. Illegal immigrants typically pay $8,000 to $10,000 to be taken to the border, loaded onto a trailer, and then driven to San Antonio and transferred to a small vehicle to their final destination in the United States. How much water can passengers get, whether they are allowed to carry cell phones, etc. Not sure. According to reports, nearly 100 people were packed in the 18-wheel truck when it was discovered on the evening of the 27th. There was no water in the carriage, and the air conditioner was not working. It was parked at the location of the incident due to mechanical failure, which ultimately led to tragedy.

"American-style blame-shifting" after tragedy

This year is the mid-term election year in the United States, and the immigration issue has recently become a bargaining chip between the two parties. On the night of the "migrant truck" tragedy, Texas Republican Governor Abbott immediately posted a "blame-shifting" post on social media, criticizing the border policies adopted by Democratic President Biden, saying "these (immigrant) deaths are... Biden caused it.” Some commentators in the United States said that the political battle between the two parties has turned the border into an "expensive campaign prop" and illegal immigrants into "political pawns."

According to Mexican media reports, tens of thousands of immigrants from Latin American countries set off from southern Mexico to the United States in early June. Latin America has not only been politically and economically constrained by the United States for a long time, but has also been deeply affected by the spillover effects of gun violence and drug epidemics in the United States. This is also a deep-seated reason for the flow of immigrants heading north.

Mexican Foreign Minister Ebrard said through social media that day that the incident was a "tragedy" and he expressed condolences to the victims and their families. Staff from the Mexican Consulate in the United States have rushed to the scene, but the nationality of the victims has not yet been confirmed.

In addition to the immigrant tragedies that occurred on the way north, the U.S. government’s violent law enforcement, extended detention, and other phenomena in its treatment of immigrants have existed for a long time, causing frequent scandals and causing controversy.

Data shows that in 2021, U.S. law enforcement agencies arrested approximately 1.7 million illegal immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, including 145,000 children. The "flesh separation" policy enforced by the previous U.S. government resulted in more than 2,800 immigrant children being separated from their parents. The internal management of the detention facilities is chaotic and human rights violations occur frequently. In recent years, of the 266,000 immigrant children detained in the United States, 25,000 were detained for more than 100 days. In September last year, the US border police on horseback violently drove away Haitian refugees with whips, which was widely condemned.

(Original title: 50 people killed in "Immigration Truck")

Source Beijing Evening News Text and pictures according to CCTV, Xinhua News Agency

Process editor Liu Weili