Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was quick to blame President Joe Biden after 46 migrants were found dead in a tractor-trailer outside San Antonio on Monday, even as immigrant advocates pointed fingers at his own hardline policies, asserting they force desperate migrants from putting their lives in the hands of unscrupulous smugglers.
“These deaths are on Biden,” the governor said on Twitter. “They are a result of his deadly open border policies. They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre rejected accusations that Biden’s policies contributed to this “absolutely horrific and heartbreaking” incident and suggested that critics are playing politics.
“The fact of the matter is, the border is closed, which is in part why you see people trying to make this dangerous journey using smuggling networks,” she told reporters Tuesday aboard Air Force One as the president flew from a G7 summit in Germany to a NATO meeting in Spain, “Forty-six people died in the state of Texas.... Their families are still learning they lost loves ones... We’re focused on them, on the facts and on holding the human smugglers who endangered vulnerable individuals for profit accountable.”
Biden has been getting regular updates, she said, adding that “far too many lives have been lost to this dangerous journey. We will continue to take action to disrupt human smuggling networks which have no regard for lives. They exploit and endanger in order to make a profit,”
Abbott, running for a third term in November, has made a crackdown on illegal migration a centerpiece of his campaign. He has pumped billions into border security, deploying national guard and busing thousands of asylum-seekers to the nation’s capital to signal they aren’t welcome in Texas.
At the League of United Latin American Citizens, national president Domingo García of Dallas asserted that the hardline policies have only boosted migrants’ reliance on human traffickers.
“The politics of President Trump and Governor Abbott to build the wall, deport them all, and Operation Lone Star have all been abysmal failures,” Garcia said, demanding bipartisan reforms to avert future tragedies by welcoming guest workers and allowing orderly migration for job-seekers. “It’s also time for the politicians in Austin to stop using immigrants as political piñatas and start treating them as people in this humanitarian crisis, not a police enforcement issue.”
Thousands of migrants have died in recent decades attempting to cross the U.S. border from Mexico, some alone in the desert, others hidden, trapped and abandoned in overheated trucks.
This incident is among the deadliest.
Ten migrants died in 2017 after being trapped inside a truck parked at a Walmart in San Antonio. In 2003, the bodies of 19 migrants were found in a sweltering truck southeast of San Antonio.
Abbott’s challenger, former El Paso congressman Beto O’Rourke, called the deaths “devastating.” He condemned both the smuggling cartels and the failure to create an orderly system that would put them out of business.
“We need urgent action — dismantle human smuggling rings and replace them with expanded avenues for legal migration that reflect our values and meet our country’s needs,” O’Rourke said.
In addition to the fatalities, 16 people were hospitalized, including four children. Fire Chief Charles Hood said they were hot to the touch and dehydrated, and no water was found in the trailer. Police Chief William McManus said a city worker was alerted to the situation by a cry for help shortly before 6 p.m. Monday.
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the 46 who died had “families who were likely trying to find a better life.”
“This is nothing short of a horrific human tragedy,” he said.
Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, criticized Abbott’s initial statement as playing politics in the face of tragedy.
“46 people die and you go straight to right wing talk points. Worthless,” Castro tweeted.
Castro said he had already discussed the situation with Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
“I just spoke to DHS Secretary Mayorkas about the 46 people who died tonight in San Antonio, most likely the victims of merciless human smugglers,” Castro said. “DHS (HSI) is working to alert their families, find everyone responsible for this crime and investigate exactly what happened.”
Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, said the news highlights the need for cooperation on addressing immigration in Congress.
“There is a better, safer way to address this issue that doesn’t involve human smuggling,” Veasey tweeted. “This is a crisis. We need to put our differences aside to advance comprehensive immigration solutions.”
A number of Texas Republicans in Congress joined Abbott in pointing the finger at the Biden administration.
“Horrific. This..is..WRONG,” tweeted Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. “How many more people have to die before Dems give a damn?”
