Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents arrested 58 migrants locked inside a tractor-trailer rig and their human smuggler. The incident occurred at an inland immigration checkpoint between San Antonio and Laredo, Texas.
Laredo North Station Border Patrol agents assigned to the Interstate 35 immigration checkpoint observed a red tractor pulling a white trailer approaching for inspection on May 29. The agents referred the driver, a U.S. citizen, to the secondary inspection station after a K-9 alerted to an odor coming from the trailer it is trained to detect, according to information obtained from Laredo Sector Border Patrol officials.
Suspecting either a drug or human cargo inside the trailer, agents unlocked and opened the trailer. Agents found 58 people locked in the heat with no air circulation or means of escape in the event of a crash or abandonment.
The agents conducted medical screening on all 58 and found they were not in need of medical assistance, officials stated. The agents then carried out immigration interviews and found all to be illegally present in the United States. Officials said the illegal immigrants came to the U.S. from Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.
The agents arrested all of the migrants on immigration violations and the driver for charges related to human smuggling. Officials seized the tractor and the trailer.
Acting CBP Commissioner Mark Morgan tweeted a message to those who might be thinking about making the trip from Central American and Mexico to the United States this summer. “The journey isn’t worth your life, especially as temps begin to rise,” the commissioner said in the tweet.
On #NationalHeatAwarenessDay, I can’t help but think of all the despicable human smugglers who lock migrants in stifling, overcrowded stash houses, trailers & trunks or abandon them in the desert without water. The journey isn’t worth your life, especially as temps begin to rise. pic.twitter.com/h8btsfSp09
— Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan (@CBPMarkMorgan) May 29, 2020
Under Title 42 Coronavirus protection provisions put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all 58 of the migrants will likely be removed to Mexico once a medical screening and criminal background investigation is completed.
Despite the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic, smugglers continue to endanger the lives of individuals they exploit and the health and safety of our Nation. U.S. Border Patrol agents strive to prevent the flow of illegal immigration and slow the spread of COVID-19.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Face
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