Death Toll Up To 53 Among Migrants Found In Texas Trailer

SAN ANTONIO, TX — Two more people among dozens of migrants found in a sweltering, abandoned semitrailer by San Antonio authorities this week have died, bringing the death toll to 53, according to the Bexar County Medical Examiner's Office.

Among the deceased victims from heat-related illnesses are 40 men and 13 women, officials said.

Officials have had difficulty identifying victims but have 37 potential identifications as of Wednesday morning, pending confirmation from officials in other countries, according to authorities.

The truck was carrying 67 migrants, including people from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador, Francisco Garduño, chief of Mexico’s National Immigration Institute, said Wednesday.

The driver was detained after trying to pretend he was one of the migrants, and two other Mexican men also have been arrested, Garduño said.

Two Mexican nationals, Juan Francisco D'Luna-Bilbao and Juan Claudio D'Luna-Mendez, were charged with possession of a weapon by an alien illegally in the United States after authorities surveilled a house in San Antonio to which the semitrailer truck was registered, according to charging documents obtained by Patch.

Both men overstayed their visas, according to the documents. The extent of their connection to the abandoned semitrailer is unclear, and it is unknown if they are the men to whom Garduño was referring.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced new border measures Wednesday in response to the incident at at news conference in Eagle Pass.

Abbott directed the Texas Department of Public Safety to adopt a checkpoint strategy targeting trucks "like the one where these people perished." Abbott also announced the creation of two strike teams of 20 state troopers each, which will begin immediate operation in high-traffic crossing areas along the border.

Steven McCraw, director of the Department of Public Safety, added authorities will conduct surveillance and search for stolen vehicles along "smuggling corridors" at the border.

Abbott said the location of the increased checkpoints will not be made public.

"Our job is to surprise the cartels and smugglers, not to tell them in advance where we will be," Abbott said.

Abbott previously announced increased inspections of semitrailers at the border in April, which caused backups of longer than 12 hours at some of the busiest ports of entry into Texas. The measures were later scaled back.

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents encountered nearly 240,000 people attempting to cross the border in May 2022, up from 180,000 in May 2021, according to reports posted by the agency.

More than 725,000 commercial trucks came into the United States through the U.S.-Mexico border in May 2022, according to the agency.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.