Nearly 80 undocumented immigrants found crammed in truck near US-Mexico border
Immigration authorities have found nearly 80 people crammed into the back of a truck trying to enter the US without proper documents.
The truck was travelling on highway in Laredo, Texas, near the US-Mexico border when the driver was pulled over. He was later arrested.
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He was questioned about his immigration status and though he is a US citizen, the truck was subjected to a secondary search and 76 people from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala were found huddled inside.
At least 13 were found to be unaccompanied children.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said all the people found in the trailer were in “good health”.
CBP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Laredo Sector Assistant Chief Patrol Agent Gabriel Acosta said in a CBP news release: “These criminal organisations view these individuals as mere commodities without regard for their safety. The blatant disregard for human life will not be tolerated.”
“We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to disrupt and dismantle these organisations and prosecute those responsible,” Mr Acosta said.
Transporting people across the border in trailer trucks has become a dangerous practice.
In July, ten undocumented immigrants died from overheating while trapped in a trailer in San Antonio, Texas.
The air conditioning and ventilation systems had broken leaving dozens more with severe brain damage and other injuries.
The driver, a US citizen from Florida, had left the vehicle in a Wal-Mart parking lot and claimed he did not there were people in the back.
Survivors, however, claimed they banged on the walls in order to get out.
The undocumented immigrants found on 26 January, including the children, will be taken to a processing and detention centres.
They have arrived at a time when border security and the fate of the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programme, which allowed people brought to the US illegally as minors to stay and work, are under hot debate in Congress.
Mythili Sampathkumar
,The Independent