How did the truck, which killed 53 immigrants, pass the US border crossing?

The tractor trailer at the heart of a human smuggling attempt that killed 53 people passed a checkpoint by the US Inland Border Guard. That trip, US officials said Thursday. The

truck passed a checkpoint on Interstate 35, 26 miles (42 km) northeast of the border city of Laredo, Texas.

Officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing investigations, and 73 people, including 53 who died when discovered inSan Antonioon Monday, were tracked. He said he was there. It was unclear whether the agent stopped the driver for a question at an inland checkpoint or whether the truck passed unimpeded.

Read more: The death toll of San Antonio immigrants reaches 53 in the face of federal accusations

This disclosure is sufficiently effective for about 110 inland highway checkpoints along the Mexican-Canada border to find people with cars and trucks illegally invading the United States. To the old policy question of whether or not. They are usually up to 100 miles (160 kilometers) from the border.

Texas police also have their own inland checkpoint for tractor trailers, at the behest of Governor Greg Abbott. Announced that it will operate. The efforts of the Byden administration are inadequate. It was unclear how many trucks they would stop.

Also on Thursday, Homero Samorano Jr., 45, a tractor trailer driver, first appeared in the Federal Court of San Antonio. At a hearing that lasted about five minutes, Zamorano in a white T-shirt and gray sweatshirts said almost nothing, and asked a question from US Security Judge Elizabeth Chestney about his rights and accusations against him, "Yes. I answered "No".

The judge has appointed a federal public defender of Zamorano and a second lawyer. The alleged smuggling he faces could result in a death sentence. She scheduled a hearing next week to determine if he was eligible for bailout.

US Supreme Court Inland to ask simple questions without a decree, even if there is no reason to believe that border guard agents are illegally carrying people in the country who ruled that the vehicle could be stopped in 1976. At the checkpoint. Nevertheless, this practice has energized immigrant advocates and civil liberalists who believe checkpoints are ripe for racial profiling and abuse of authority. Some drivers post videos on social media and blame agents for generous and inappropriate questions.

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Checkpoints in the Laredo area One of the busiest highways along the border, especially trucks, can choke on commerce and cause havoc if all drivers stop and are asked.

Border Guard officials call checkpoints an incomplete but effective second line of defense after the border, with agents in the interests of law enforcement agencies and legitimate commerce and travel disruptions. I admit that I need to balance with.

Volumes and configurations vary widely from checkpoint to checkpoint, but agents typically take 5-7 seconds to decide whether to ask the driver, and border patrols in Twson, Arizona, and Sector. Former Chief Roy Villa Real said.

"In the end, it's very difficult to identify common crimes. Determining if you're 100% effective, 50%, or 10%. Is difficult. "

Read more:Two Mexicans accused after 51 immigrants died on a Texas truck

U.S. Congressman Henry Cuera, who passes through checkpoints almost every week, said investigators believed that immigrants boarded trucks in and around Laredo, but that confirmed. It has not been. It matches the pattern of smuggling. Immigrants walk across borders, hiding in homes and shrubs of US soil, then picked up and transported to the nearest major city.

Even if the track is empty, you will still be asked about checkpoints. Immigrants often die trying to avoid them and are dropped off before reaching them with plans to pick them up on the other side. In the Rio Grande Valley, the busiest corridor at an illegal crossroads, immigrants walk on sultry ranches to avoid the checkpoints in Farfrias, Texas, about 70 miles (112 km) north of the border.

The Government Accountability Agency said this month that inland checkpoint agents were illegal in the United States from 2016 to 2020. In the fiscal year, which reportedly detained about 35,700 people, it was only about 2% of all border patrol arrests. Agents seized the drug approximately 18,000 times during that period, resulting in more than nine of the ten arrests involving US citizens.

They were a trap for American citizens who even had a small bag of marijuana. According to a previous GAO report, about 40% of pot seizures at border patrol checkpoints from 2013 to 2016 were less than ounces (28 grams) from US citizens.

Abbott did not provide details on the scope of Texas' new inland inspection announced Thursday. Lieutenant Chris Oliveres, a spokesman for the Texas Public Safety Agency, said the soldiers would take a "more aggressive attitude." Asked if that meant stopping all tracks, Oliveres said he didn't know, and that it would depend in part on staffing.

"We plan to do more inspections than regular inspections," Olivarez said.

In April, Abbott crossed the Texas border after ordering to inspect all tractor trailers coming in from Mexico as part of an ongoing battle with the Byden administration over immigration policy. I locked the grid for a week. These tests, which were mechanical and safety tests, did not find any immigrants or drugs.

Spagat reported by San Diego. Paul Weber contributed from Austin, Texas.

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