By Agencies
HOUSTON: Eight people, several of them from Honduras, were killed on Wednesday when the driver of a car suspected of carrying smuggled migrants fled police and smashed into an oncoming vehicle on a South Texas highway.
Police said the driver of a white Honda Civic was transporting five undocumented migrants and was trying to outrun deputies from the Zavala County Sheriff’s Office on a road about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the Mexican border when he passed a Chevrolet Equinox and collided with another car, at around 6.30 am. killing the couple inside.
Everyone in both vehicles was killed including the 21-year-old driver of the Civic, who was from Houston, and his five passengers. Several of the migrants who were killed in the white Honda were from Honduras, according to police. The two people in the Equinox were from Georgia.
Seven victims died at the scene, while an eighth died later in hospital, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety told AFP.
It was unclear how fast the vehicles were going, but photos provided by law enforcement show both were mangled and most of the Equinox was burned.
(AP)
Wednesday’s crash near Batesville — about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of San Antonio — is the latest deadly vehicle crash involving migrants, marking the highest death toll since 13 people died in a collision in remote Holtville, California, in March 2021.
US authorities have intercepted some six million migrants at its southern border since President Joe Biden assumed office in January 2021, US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Wednesday. He added that since May, authorities have “removed or returned” more than 350,000 migrants who do not meet the criteria to stay in the country.
Illegal immigration has become a major political headache for Biden, with Republicans accusing him of lax border policies.
Biden has asked Congress for an additional $13.6 billion to reinforce the border with Mexico and hire immigration agents, lawyers and asylum officials.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas has tallied 106 deaths in Border Patrol vehicle pursuits from January 2010 to June of this year. Deaths averaged 3.5 a year through 2019 but spiked in 2020, leading officials to develop a new policy for vehicle pursuits with an eye toward increasing safety.
The policy announced in January stops short of prohibiting chases but, according to CBP, “provides a clear framework for weighing the risks of conducting pursuits, such as the dangers they present to the public, against the law enforcement benefit or need.”
Local law enforcement agencies have been involved in fatal crashes as well in recent years. In June 2022, four migrants were killed in a smuggling attempt following a police chase in the South Texas city of Encinal, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southeast of Wednesday’s crash.
(With inputs from AP and AFP) Follow channel on WhatsApp
HOUSTON: Eight people, several of them from Honduras, were killed on Wednesday when the driver of a car suspected of carrying smuggled migrants fled police and smashed into an oncoming vehicle on a South Texas highway.
Police said the driver of a white Honda Civic was transporting five undocumented migrants and was trying to outrun deputies from the Zavala County Sheriff’s Office on a road about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the Mexican border when he passed a Chevrolet Equinox and collided with another car, at around 6.30 am. killing the couple inside.
Everyone in both vehicles was killed including the 21-year-old driver of the Civic, who was from Houston, and his five passengers. Several of the migrants who were killed in the white Honda were from Honduras, according to police. The two people in the Equinox were from Georgia.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
Seven victims died at the scene, while an eighth died later in hospital, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of Public Safety told AFP.
It was unclear how fast the vehicles were going, but photos provided by law enforcement show both were mangled and most of the Equinox was burned.
(AP)
Wednesday’s crash near Batesville — about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southwest of San Antonio — is the latest deadly vehicle crash involving migrants, marking the highest death toll since 13 people died in a collision in remote Holtville, California, in March 2021.
US authorities have intercepted some six million migrants at its southern border since President Joe Biden assumed office in January 2021, US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Wednesday. He added that since May, authorities have “removed or returned” more than 350,000 migrants who do not meet the criteria to stay in the country.
Illegal immigration has become a major political headache for Biden, with Republicans accusing him of lax border policies.
Biden has asked Congress for an additional $13.6 billion to reinforce the border with Mexico and hire immigration agents, lawyers and asylum officials.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas has tallied 106 deaths in Border Patrol vehicle pursuits from January 2010 to June of this year. Deaths averaged 3.5 a year through 2019 but spiked in 2020, leading officials to develop a new policy for vehicle pursuits with an eye toward increasing safety.
The policy announced in January stops short of prohibiting chases but, according to CBP, “provides a clear framework for weighing the risks of conducting pursuits, such as the dangers they present to the public, against the law enforcement benefit or need.”
Local law enforcement agencies have been involved in fatal crashes as well in recent years. In June 2022, four migrants were killed in a smuggling attempt following a police chase in the South Texas city of Encinal, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southeast of Wednesday’s crash.
(With inputs from AP and AFP) Follow channel on WhatsApp
