San Antonio prosecutors are prosecuting border smugglers as legal routes into the United States are closed and the danger for illegal immigrants may increase.
Listen to this article · 8:59 mins. Learn more
- Share the full article
On June 27, 2022, migrants were found dead or seriously ill in a semi-trailer on a deserted road in San Antonio.
The chilling screams of a young woman came from a desolate, trash-strewn area of the city between landfills and the railroad tracks on Quintana Road on the outskirts of San Antonio.
When a man working for a nearby paving company, Ricardo Quintero, followed the sounds, he came upon a horrific scene. The doors of a trailer were ajar. Inside and around the trailer were piles of badly burned bodies, many of them lifeless. Others were gasping for air. A teenage girl, dressed all in black, was pounding the asphalt in desperation and begging for help.
“She was hysterical,” Mr. Quintero recalled.
Mr. Quintero described the scene in court testimony in the opening days of the federal trial of two men accused of belonging to a sprawling smuggling ring. Prosecutors say the gang is responsible for the deaths of 53 migrants — 47 adults and six children — on June 27, 2022, in what may be the deadliest migrant-smuggling incident in the country’s history.
Testimony from witnesses, law enforcement officials and survivors has provided a window into the plight of illegal immigrants who sneak into the country and try to remain undetected rather than surrender to authorities and seek asylum, the preferred option for much of the Biden administration.
As President Trump tightens the asylum system and moves to close the border, he has embraced what he calls the humanitarian side of his aggressive immigration crackdown by stopping human trafficking. A gruesome trial in San Antonio highlights the dangers of human trafficking, while the president’s policies make such treacherous routes of entry potentially more lucrative for smugglers.
The two defendants, Armando Gonzalez-Ortega, 54, and Felipe Orduna-Torres, 29, are charged with conspiracy to transport illegal immigrants resulting in death. They face potential life sentences. A verdict is expected by early April.
We are having trouble retrieving the article content.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.
Thank you for your patience while we check access. If you are in Reading Mode, please sign out and sign in to your Times account or subscribe to all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we check access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want to receive every issue of The Times? Subscribe.
SKIP ADVERTISEMENT
Source: Source
