Ten immigrants have died and 29 remain hospitalized in San Antonio, Texas, where dozens of undocumented immigrants were discovered packed in the back of a sweltering tractor-trailer. The youngest victims were just 15 years old. When the group of migrants was discovered in a Wal-Mart parking lot in San Antonio, eight men were already dead. Two more men died later, and 29 remain hospitalized. We speak with Eddie Canales, director of the South Texas Human Rights Center.
JUAN GONZĂLEZ: We begin today’s show in San Antonio, Texas, where 10 undocumented immigrants died from heat exposure and asphyxiation after they and dozens of others were crammed into the back of a sweltering tractor-trailer as part of their journey to enter the United States from Mexico. When the group of migrants was discovered in a Wal-Mart parking lot in San Antonio, eight men were already dead. Two more died later, and 29 remain hospitalized. Authorities say they are investigating it as a human trafficking case. This is San Antonio Police Chief William McManus.
CHIEF WILLIAM McMANUS: We’re looking at human trafficking crime here this evening. Department of Homeland Security is involved. They’re working with us. Homicide will work with them to determine the origin of this — of this horrific tragedy.
AMY GOODMAN: Survivors say as many as 200 people were sandwiched into the back of the truck, at times, during the deadly journey. The youngest victims were just 15 years old.
On Monday, truck driver James Matthew Bradley Jr. appeared in court and was charged under a federal law against knowingly transporting people who are in the country without documentation. He claimed he was unaware his tractor-trailer contained human cargo, until he parked it outside a Wal-Mart store to use the bathroom and heard loud banging noises. Bradley told investigators he then opened the back doors of the trailer and was surprised when dozens of, quote, “Spanish” people ran out. He said he later noticed the dead bodies, saying there…