Two SUVs involved in separate accidents in California on Tuesday entered the United States from Mexico through a 3-meter gap in a border barrier, federal officials said on Wednesday, according to a report.
One of the SUVs, said to have 25 illegal immigrants huddled inside, soon became involved in a fatal accident on State Highway 115 and Norrish Road in Holtville that killed 12 occupants of the vehicle at the scene and a 13 shortly thereafter, the Los Times report from the Angeles Times.
Ten of the dead were Mexican citizens, according to the Mexican government, while the nationalities of the other three were not immediately clarified, according to the Associated Press.
The other SUV was found on fire about 10 minutes after entering the United States, with 19 people hiding nearby in the bush, the report said. It was not clear how the fire started.
Gregory Bovino, head of the Border Patrol sector at El Centro, said the incidents exemplify the indifference with which human smugglers treat their victims.
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“Human smugglers have repeatedly proven that they have little regard for human life,” Bovino told the AP. “Those who are thinking about crossing the border illegally should stop to think about the dangers that often end in tragedies – tragedies that our Border Patrol agents and rescuers are, unfortunately, very familiar with.”
“Human smugglers have repeatedly proven that they have little regard for human life.”
To the left is an opening in a metal fence along the US-Mexico border in California. On the right is a Ford Expedition SUV that crashed with large equipment, resulting in 13 deaths. (Border Patrol / Associated Press)
Border Patrol agents discovered the barrier opening at 6:05 am on Tuesday, then found that SUVs had entered the United States after examining the area’s surveillance video, the Times reported.
A little over an hour later, at 7:11 am, Border Patrol agents arrived at the scene in Holtsville, where the vehicle carrying 25 people – a Ford Expedition – crashed into a large platform.
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Everyone traveling in both SUVs was suspected of having entered the United States illegally, the Border Patrol said in a press release, according to the Times.
None of the SUVs were being chased by Border Patrol personnel at the time of their accidents, the agency’s statement said.
The gap in the border’s metal fence was located near the Gordon’s Well exit near Interstate 8, a customs and border protection spokesman told the newspaper.
How long the opening has existed – and whether more vehicles or pedestrians have entered the United States by that point – was not immediately clear. Nor was it clear whether the damage to the barrier was repaired after Tuesday’s discovery.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement launched a “human smuggling investigation” in connection with the fatal accident, the Times reported.
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The incidents took place during the height of the harvest season in the agricultural area of California’s Imperial Valley, the AP reported. The region supplies lettuce, onions, broccoli and more to supermarkets in the United States
The area where the accidents occurred began to become known for illegal crossings in the 1990s, when increased US surveillance in San Diego pushed migrants to more remote areas, the AP reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.