Authorities Rescue 123 Migrants From Trailer

(RepublicanPress.org) – All too frequently, refugees and migrants perish after being locked inside vehicles while attempting to make their way across the US-Mexico border. Recently, Mexican officials prevented a potential tragedy when they rescued 123 migrants from a trailer in San Luis Potosí, a large state in central Mexico between Monterrey and Guadalajara.

On November 9, Mexico’s National Migration Institute (Instituto Nacional de Migración, INM) issued a communiqué detailing the discovery and rescue of the trapped migrants. The statement explained that the Federal Attorney General’s Office (Fiscalía General de la República, FGR) received a report from a concerned citizen who claimed to have heard cries for help coming from a trailer parked in the City of Matehuala.

123 migrants, including dozens of kids, found trapped inside trailer in Mexico https://t.co/CZHOsJkpSP pic.twitter.com/AECuwNMrYN

— New York Post (@nypost) November 10, 2023

A team of investigators dispatched by the FGR discovered 89 adults and 34 children locked inside the trailer. Those officials provided them with food, water, and medical assistance and transferred them to the INM’s custody for identification and processing.

The INM provided the migrants with shelter and other amenities, pending the eventual determination of their immigration status. They also quickly ascertained the migrants’ countries of origin:

40 of them came from Guatemala, including 33 adults and 6 children;
35 from Nicaragua, 31 adults and 4 children;
29 from Honduras, 16 adults and 13 children;
14 from El Salvador, 5 adults and 9 children;
4 from Ecuador, 2 minors and 2 children; and
1 adult from Cuba.

The INM’s statement did not provide any information regarding how the migrants ended up stranded inside a locked trailer. Likewise, it didn’t indicate a possible destination for them, although migrants from other countries typically travel through Mexico on their way to the United States.

ABC News reported that police officers arrested three alleged human traffickers in Ciudad Juárez, a border town located next to El Paso, Texas. The officials reportedly tracked them down after discovering 11 migrants from Guatemala trapped inside a nearby house. Two of the arrestees were only 16 years old.