Border Patrol Agents of the Rio Grande Valley Sector have rescued 60 illegal immigrants who had been packed in a tractor trailer container along with pallets of broccoli. The doors of the trailer were secured with a padlock and those inside had no means of escape with the internal temperature being in the region of 49 degrees Fahrenheit. They were victims of Human Traffickers.
They are desperate
Fox News reports that there were a total of 60 illegal immigrants consisting of a mix of people from Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras. They did not want to seek any medical attention that was offered.
Later, all of them were shifted to the Falfurrias Border Patrol Station and processed.
Border Patrol agents became aware of this unusual load from their sniffer dogs who alerted them. The driver of the truck, a Guatemalan national, has been arrested on federal charges for alien smuggling. The authorities always advise immigrants to stay away from human traffickers and refrain from crossing over illegally into the U.S.
This is not the first case
Transporting human beings in closed containers across the US-Mexico border appears to be a recent development. Those who hesitate to cross the border on their own look around for alternate means and human traffickers exploit the opportunity to the hilt.
The present incident is not the first one.
On 24 July 2017, more than 100 people were found crammed into a tractor trailer in the stifling Texas summer heat. Ten of them died and 29 others were hospitalized. It seems they paid $5,500 per head for the trip and had been assured of traveling in air conditioned vehicle. They were picked up from a safe house in Laredo, Texas.
The journey from Laredo to San Antonio takes roughly two hours and the truck driver was never seen, nor were they offered any water.
Earlier, on July 7, the Border Patrol agents found 72 people crammed into a truck with no means of escape. The people hailed from Mexico, Ecuador, Guatemala and El Salvador.
Then, on August 14, a total of 17 illegal immigrants were found inside a tractor-trailer parked at a truck stop in Edinburg, Texas.
The breakup was 14 men and three women and they hailed from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Romania.
It is evident that there are people who are determined to escape into a world of hope, symbolized by the United States. Earlier, they used to enter illegally through openings in the existing fences and walls by braving all odds. However, strict policing at the borders and the proposed Mexico border wall is forcing them to search for alternate means and they become easy prey of human traffickers.
