TEXAS — Border Patrol agents stopped a trailer at a border checkpoint in Texas and discovered 18 adults crammed in a space under the boards and two children stuffed into a side panel.
Chief Patrol Agent Austin Skero of the Del Rio Sector tweeted photos of the illegal immigrants packed in the trailer so tight they were nearly lying atop one another with barely room to move, New York Post reported.
Most of them held their arms down along their body to make more room in the space that appeared to be no more than 18 inches deep.
Tarps and bags were on the bed of the trailer to conceal the immigrants hiding underneath.
Another photo showed the children – ages 10 and 15 – jammed into a container barely big enough to hold them, the Post reported.
Skero said canines on Monday alerted officers to the trailer and an inspection uncovered the adults “trapped under the trailer boards.”
Yesterday, a Del Rio Sector K9 alerted to this trailer at one of our checkpoints. An inspection located 2 children (ages 10 and 15) trapped under the trailer boards with 18 adults. With temperatures on the rise, smuggling attempts like these have a high potential to turn deadly. pic.twitter.com/Bf5X9oDijK
— Chief Patrol Agent Austin Skero (@USBPChiefDRT) April 13, 2021
“With temperatures on the rise, smuggling attempts like these have a high potential to turn deadly,” he said.
It wasn’t clear where the migrants originated.
The federal government is housing thousands of unaccompanied minors in temporary shelters, along with permanent border detention facilities, and has used some military bases and convention centers to accommodate many more.
The Biden administration is scrambling to respond to the surge of illegal immigrants, which is encouraged by their policies.
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According to numbers compiled by US Customs and Border Protection, federal agents encountered 18,890 unaccompanied children from Central America in March — double February’s 9,297.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who the president tapped last month to lead the efforts to stem the tide, is expected to travel to Guatemala and Mexico, but no date has been finalized.
However, for the 22nd consecutive day since being appointed as Biden’s manager of border-crisis issues, Harris has not face reporters at a news conference to take sustained questioning over the role, Fox reported.
