TITLE: Four people arrested in San Antonio migrant tragedy
SLUG: TEXAS MIGRANTES
DATE: JUNE 30, 2022
AUTHOR: JAIME MORENO
LOCATION: SAN ANTONIO, TX
VIDEO SOURCE:REUTERS, AP, ABC, AFP, VOA
DURATION: 01:43
((INTRO))
Four people were arrested and charged after 53 migrants died Monday on the outskirts of San Antonio, suffocated inside a truck. Jaime Moreno is at the scene of the tragedy and it is known that the van driver faced his first hearing.
((PKG))
((STORYTELLER))
One more person has been arrested and charged in the San Antonio truck tragedy, billed as the deadliest human smuggling incident in US history.
So far there are four suspects, including Christian Martínez, 28, accused of conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants, and the driver of the truck, Homero Zamorano Jr., 45, who has an extensive criminal record dating back to the 1990s.
((STAND-UP: Jaime Moreno, Voice of America))
ENG: “Before a district court, Homero Zamorano, the driver of the trailer, heard the charges, filed by the Department of Justice, and related to human trafficking that led to the death of the 53 migrants.”
((STORYTELLER))
If convicted, the two could face life in prison or the death penalty.
((NAT SOUND: people bringing flowers to the altar))
((STORYTELLER))
The conditions of the 11 hospitalized remain serious but stable, while hundreds of people brought flowers, candles and bottles of water to the scene of the tragedy.
((SOT: Sandra Grace Martínez, daughter of two migrants))
ENG: “What I see is people who know what it is to suffer, those who know what it is like to drink water.”
((STORYTELLER))
The truck, according to the authorities, crossed the US border in Laredo without being controlled and from there crossed Texas for three hours before leaving in a van in San Antonio. The reason for the abandonment of the truck is still unknown.
Governor Abbott announced increased checkpoints for trucks.
((SOT: Greg Abbott, Governor of Texas))
((ENG: “Many of these deaths could be prevented if Biden simply fully funded the Border Patrol operation of the United States of America and implemented the policies that the Border Patrol needs in order to do their real job. And the real job is not the paper processing work that they’ve been assigned to do.”))
ENG: “Many of these deaths could be prevented if Biden simply fully funded the United States of America Border Patrol operation and implemented the policies the Border Patrol needs to do its real job. And the actual work is not the document processing work assigned to them.”
((STORYTELLER))
Jaime Moreno, Voice of America, San Antonio.
–
