17 critical now
heart rates at 130BPM
Driver arrested
people seen on video fleeing the truck--and vehicles were seen picking up others driving off
msnbc
don't know how long the truck had been there
I am a bit vague on how they were found initially, -- anyone?
This same thing happened several years ago, IIRC. It wasn't fully investigated at that time, just arresting the driver, etc.
The people seen on camera picking up people from the trailer is suspicious. If these were people who had relatives in the US already, they would be able to enter the US legally, right? I think DHS needs to look into whether there are businesses in the US who are paying to have groups of people brought in for cheap illegal labor.
JMO, if they follow the money trail far enough, they'll find some big businesses playing a role. Let's say a contractor who supplies workers/service to a chain of retail stores, produce warehouses, etc. takes orders for workers and brings them to the US. After arrival, a phone calls are made and the various business partners in the scheme arrive to pick up however many workers they need.
Here's a link to a recent Pew Research Center study
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/03/02/what-we-know-about-illegal-immigration-from-mexico/
Having access to a semi-truck, getting across the border and distributing workers from a parking lot in the US just seems like the operation is more organized and funded than random trafficking. This is probably going on every day in the US.
There used to be laws and stiff monetary penalties against businesses who employed these workers, precisely to prevent these kinds of tragedies. They don't seem to be enforced much anymore.
ETA: Here's a link to another Pew research report showing the states where most of these workers are going: California, Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Nevada, Kansas, Illinois, Georgia, Alabama & North Carolina.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/04/27/5-facts-about-illegal-immigration-in-the-u-s/
I'm guessing many of these are agricultural workers, also manufacturing, etc. But when you see states like Nevada, New York, etc. it seems more like people working in hotels, restaurants, retail, etc.
ETA: Here's a link to an article about "legal" migrant workers in Illinois who work summers detassling corn. Their housing conditions are poor, but paid for my Monsanto. They sleep on dirty mattresses on concrete floors in an old hospital located at the former Chanute Air Force Base.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/busin...-corn-detassling-0807-biz-20160805-story.html