HOUSTON, Texas–Fifteen illegal immigrants, mostly Mexican nationals, were found in an eighteen wheeler at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint south of Falfurrias, Texas. The checkpoint is more than eighty miles from the Texas/Mexico border and temperatures in the region on Thursday topped ninety-six degrees.
Covered in sweat, eleven of the illegal immigrants were found in the trailer section of the truck hiding between pallets of carrots. Four more of the illegal immigrants were found hiding in the sleeper cabin of the truck. They were crammed into a small closet and hiding under the bed according to KRIS-TV6 from Corpus Christi.
Brooks County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Benny Martinez spoke with Breitbart Texas about today’s incident. “It is not uncommon for the big trucks to carry human cargo like this,” Chief Martinez said. “At this point, the U.S. Border Patrol does not share any information about their checkpoint operations.” Martinez had previously told Breitbart Texas it is not unusual for the human smugglers to drop off their people before the checkpoint and make them hike through the desert-like conditions in the ninety-plus degree heat. During the month of June twelve illegal immigrants were found dead in the ranch lands surrounding the town of Falfurrias. The sheriff’s department estimates they find one in ten bodies.
Many illegal immigrants have died in the back of these eighteen wheeler trucks in the past. In this case, none had died but many were overwhelmed by the heat and required medical assistance according to an AP report on KVUE TV Austin. The majority of the immigrants were smuggled in from Mexico but the truck also contained immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic.
The Border Patrol stressed these individuals would be returned to their country of origin.
Breitbart Texas has reported extensively on the deaths of illegal immigrants in Brooks County. Because of the burial cost incurred by the county because of the deaths of these illegal immigrants who are left to die by their smugglers, the county has had to reduce its patrol staff to four full-time paid deputies. This amounts to about one deputy per shift to cover an area about the size of Rhode Island.
Volunteer police officers from as far as a hundred miles away are now coming to the aid of this law enforcement department and working free shifts during their off-duty time to help protect the people of this county where they do not even live. Breitbart Texas will return to Falfurrias this weekend to observe the sheriff’s deputies and the volunteer reserves who are working very long hours to try and save the lives of those abandoned while still protecting the citizens of the county.
Bob Price is a staff writer and a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
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