Republicans blame Biden’s border policy after 50 people die in truck
‘These deaths are on him’ say president’s critics as piles of bodies are found in sweltering trailer in Texas
REPUBLICANS accused Joe Biden of having blood on his hands after at least 50 migrants were found dead in a sweltering truck near the Mexico border.
It was the worst human trafficking disaster in US history as “stacks of bodies” of Central American men, women and children were discovered in Texas.
They had no water or air conditioning inside the truck as temperatures outside soared to 39C.
Republicans blamed Mr Biden for failing to crack down on illegal immigration as numbers of people trying to cross the border surge.
Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, said: “These deaths are on Biden. They are a result of his deadly open-border policies. They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law.”
Ted Cruz, the Republican Texas senator, added: “How many more people have to die before Democrats give a damn?” Mr Biden was briefed on the tragedy while flying to the Nato summit in Madrid. In a statement, he said: “Exploiting vulnerable individuals for profit is shameful, as is political grandstanding around tragedy.
“The tragic loss of life in San Antonio, Texas, is horrifying and heartbreaking.”
A White House spokesman, responding to the Republican accusations, said: “The fact of the matter is the border is closed, which is in part why you see people trying to make this dangerous journey using smuggling networks.
“We are going to stay focused on the facts, and making sure that we hold these smugglers accountable.”
Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico’s president, said 22 of the victims were from his country, seven from Guatemala, two from Honduras, and the others’ nationality had yet to be determined.
He said: “I want to offer my condolences to the relatives of this catastrophe.” He said he would meet with Mr Biden in Washington on July 12 to address the migration crisis.
The 18-wheel truck had been parked just outside San Antonio, Texas. It was on a back road near Highway I-35, a major US road that stretches to the Mexican border. Judge Nelson Wolff, the most senior elected official in the area, said it appeared to have been driven from Laredo, Texas, on the Mexico border 150 miles to the south.
He said: “They had just parked it on the side of the road. Apparently, they had mechanical problems and left it.”
A worker in a nearby building heard a faint cry from the truck around 6pm and went to investigate.
He found the trailer doors partially open, then looked inside, and made the horrific discovery.
When police arrived, one body was just outside the truck and others further down the road, as some migrants had managed to stagger out. Sixteen survivors, including four children, were taken to hospital suffering from heat exhaustion and heatstroke.
Some of them were too weak to get out of the vehicle on their own.
Before embarking on their deadly trip, the migrants had been covered with steak seasoning to stop them being detected at checkpoints.
Charles Hood, the San Antonio fire chief, said there did not appear to have been any drinking water inside the truck. He said: “It was a refrigerated tractor-trailer, but there was no visible working A/C unit on that rig. We’re not supposed to open up a truck and see stacks of bodies in there. None of us come to work imagining that.”
Three people were arrested, but it was not clear whether they were connected to a human trafficking ring.
The route the migrants were on is the busiest area for illegal border crossings into the US. People-smugglers evade checkpoints to bring migrants to San Antonio, from where they disperse.
San Antonio is currently having a record-breaking heatwave, with this June already the hottest ever recorded.
In 2017, 10 migrants died from suffocation in a truck with broken air conditioning at a Walmart car park in San
Antonio. The bodies of 19 migrants were found in another truck near the city in 2003.
US customs and border protection said that more than two million illegal migrants tried to cross last year. A record 239,416 were stopped last month.
Under Title 42, a pandemic-era rule introduced in March 2020 to stop the spread of Covid, people caught crossing into the US are denied the chance to seek asylum and are returned across the border. But the system encourages repeat attempts because there are no legal consequences for getting caught.
Alejandro Mayorkas, the US homeland security secretary, said: “I am heartbroken by the tragic loss of life today and am praying for those still fighting for their lives. Far too many lives have been lost as individuals take this dangerous journey.”
Gustavo García-siller, the Roman Catholic archbishop of San Antonio, said: “Once again, the lack of courage to deal with immigration reform is killing and destroying lives. We do not learn. God teach us to change.”
The UN human rights office said it was “deeply disturbed”. A spokesman said: “This is not the first such tragedy and it illustrates again the critical need for regular safe pathways for migrants.”