Fifty-three migrants died in what remains the nation’s deadliest human smuggling event. Eight children and one pregnant woman were among the victims discovered in the sweltering trailer parked next to an isolated road in 2022.
Migrant Tragedy in San Antonio
Fifty-three people died after being trapped in a sweltering tractor-trailer found near Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio in late June 2022. The victims were migrants from Mexico and Central America. Cross-border smuggling and human trafficking have been longstanding problems along the U.S.-Mexico border. Follow The Texas Tribune as details emerge about this tragedy.
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Migrant Tragedy in San Antonio
A 14-year-old went to Texas to help his family build a bigger house in Guatemala. Now his family is burying him.
Juan Wilmer Tulul Tepaz was one of the 53 migrants who died after being trapped in a tractor-trailer in San Antonio. His body was returned to his village, which has buried several youths who left to seek better lives in the U.S.
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Migrant Tragedy in San Antonio
Two men indicted in connection with deaths of 53 migrants who were found in tractor-trailer
The men could face life in prison or the death penalty. The gruesome crime scene and large number of people who died drew international outrage.
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Migrant Tragedy in San Antonio
“She didn’t deserve to die like this”: Mom who lost her daughter in trailer tragedy visits site in San Antonio
Adela Betulia Ramírez Quezada was trying to reunite with her mother and two sisters in California. The morning that she climbed in to a trailer with dozens of others, she called her mother to say they would see each other soon.
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Migrant Tragedy in San Antonio
Guatemalan village mourns two teens lost in San Antonio migrant smuggling tragedy
Relatives of the victims and other residents of the village of Tzucubal pooled their resources and traveled to Guatemala’s capital last week to confirm their identities. They now wait for the teens’ bodies to be repatriated so they can be buried.
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Migrant Tragedy in San Antonio
Migrants in Texas trailer tragedy died seeking better lives
News of the trailer full of bodies struck horror in cities and villages accustomed to watching their young people leave, trying to flee poverty or violence in Central America and Mexico.
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Migrant Tragedy in San Antonio
Archbishop of San Antonio warns of “a culture of death”
In an interview with The Texas Tribune, the Roman Catholic prelate cited the school shooting in Uvalde, an intensified narcotics trade and the deaths of 53 migrants in a tractor-trailer in San Antonio. He urged comprehensive immigration reform.
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Migrant Tragedy in San Antonio
A “cloned” 18-wheeler made it easy for smugglers to pass through the border, say state officials vowing to crack down
A federal agency estimates that about 75 trucks are reported nationally each year with copied or stolen state and federal ID numbers, which industry experts say is likely a significant undercount.
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Migrant Tragedy in San Antonio
U.S. charges driver and 3 others in deaths of 53 migrants found in tractor-trailer
It was the single deadliest migrant smuggling case in U.S. history, according to a Homeland Security official. Citizens of Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador were among the victims.
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Migrant Tragedy in San Antonio
Texas will increase checkpoints for trucks crossing from Mexico after migrant smuggling deaths
DPS said the checkpoints won’t occur at the ports of entry, which is different than in April when Abbott mandated all commercial vehicles entering from Mexico be checked by state police. The order snarled trade with Mexico at the time.