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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott was quick to blame President Joe Biden after 46 migrants were found dead in a tractor-trailer outside San Antonio on Monday.
“These deaths are on Biden,” the governor said on Twitter. “They are a result of his deadly open border policies. They show the deadly consequences of his refusal to enforce the law.”
Abbott, who is running for a third term in November, has made immigration a centerpiece of his reelection campaign.
His opponent, former El Paso congressman Beto O’Rourke, also tweeted about the “devastating” discovery and the need for change.
“We need urgent action — dismantle human smuggling rings and replace them with expanded avenues for legal migration that reflect our values and meet our country’s needs,” the Democrat said.
The incident is the latest tragedy to claim the lives of migrants smuggled across the border from Mexico to the U.S. Sixteen people were hospitalized, including four children. Fire Chief Charles Hood said said they were hot to the touch and dehydrated, and no water was found in the trailer. Police Chief William McManus said a city worker was alerted to the situation by a cry for help shortly before 6 p.m. Monday.
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the 46 who died had “families who were likely trying to find a better life.”
“This is nothing short of a horrific human tragedy,” Nirenberg said.
It’s among the deadliest of the tragedies that have claimed thousands of lives in recent decades as people attempt to cross the U.S. border from Mexico. Ten migrants died in 2017 after being trapped inside a truck parked at a Walmart in San Antonio. In 2003, the bodies of 19 migrants were found in a sweltering truck southeast of San Antonio.