Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents disrupted a pair of unrelated human smuggling incidents with migrants packed into the hot trunks of vehicles. Outside temperatures in the area reached well above 100 degrees.
Agents assigned to the Interstate 19 immigration checkpoint near Amado, Arizona, on Wednesday afternoon observed a Chevrolet Malibu approaching for inspection. The agents referred the driver, a Tucson man, to the secondary station, according to information obtained from Tucson Sector Border Patrol officials.
The agents searched the vehicle and found three people packed into the trunk of the Malibu. The agents interviewed the three men and identified them as Guatemalan nationals who entered the United States illegally. The agents arrested the driver and the three illegal immigrants.
At about the same time, agents witnessed two men illegally crossing the U.S. border from Mexico by climbing over an old section of fencing. This section has not yet been replaced by the new bollard wall technology being deployed along the southern border, officials reported.
A short time later, agents assigned to the State Route 85 immigration checkpoint observed a Chevrolet Impala approaching for inspection. The agents searched the vehicle and found a Honduran man and a Guatemalan woman packed into the trunk of the Impala.
Agents arrested the female driver and her female passenger, both from Tucson, on charges related to smuggling illegal immigrants. They also arrested the two migrants on immigration violations.
Officials said the outside temperature in the area of both human smuggling incidents was about 105 degrees. Despite the intense heat in the trunks of the vehicles, none of the five arrested migrants required additional medical attention.
Despite the threat of the Coronavirus, none of the people locked in the trunks of the vehicles were provided personal protection equipment, officials stated.
Under Title 42 Coronavirus protection protocols put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly all apprehended migrants are transported to rally points. There, the migrants undergo a medical screening and criminal background before being expelled to Mexico. CBP officials report nearly all are expelled within about two hours of their apprehension.
“Tucson Sector Border Patrol would like to remind the public that hiding people in a vehicle’s trunk is a cruel tactic, especially during summer months,” officials said in a written statement. “Those inside can suffer heat-related illness, asphyxiation from a lack of oxygen, and serious injury or death in the event of a collision.”
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.