MCALLEN, Texas — The driver of a van filled with illegal aliens died during a wreck while trying to flee from authorities.
On Monday night, various law enforcement agencies were pursuing a 16 passenger van filled with 39 illegal aliens in the border city of Pharr, Texas when they temporarily lost sight of the vehicle, information released to Breitbart Texas by Pharr Police shows.
The van had gone off the road and crashed into an irrigation canal killing the driver and causing minor injuries to the passengers, police said.
A local justice of the peace arrived at the scene to legally pronounce the driver dead and to order an autopsy. The 39 passengers of the van were treated at the scene by medical personnel and then turned over to the U.S. Border Patrol for further investigation and deportation procedures.
During the past two years a shift in immigration routes has funneled hundreds of thousands of illegal aliens through the Texas border particularly in the Rio Grande Valley.
The surge has created a security and humanitarian crisis that has forced Texas and federal agencies to scramble resources including a surge of state troopers, national guardsmen and border patrol agents from throughout the country. Despite the added law enforcement presence, high speed chases remain a common occurrence along the Texas border.
Follow Ildefonso Ortiz on Twitter @ildefonsoortiz