(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Mexican government says it has charged six people in connection with deadly U.S. smuggling incident [1] ['Daily Kos Staff', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-01 “U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar on Tuesday hailed the latest development in a tragedy borne out of poverty in rural Mexico and Central America and exacerbated by the greed of migrant smugglers,” Border Report said. In a tweet on Tuesday, Salazar called the arrests and indictments a “great example” of U.S./Mexico cooperation, and a “step towards justice for the families of the 51 who lost their lives.” Just 16 migrants survived the incident after being mostly abandoned by smugglers in a sweltering tractor-trailer outside San Antonio. “Mostly abandoned,” because one Mexican official had previously said that the driver, Homero Zamorano Jr., tried to disguise himself as one of his own victims. Zamorano Jr. and a second man, Christian Martinez, face charges that could result in either life imprisonment or the death penalty. Two others, Juan Claudio D’Luna-Mendez and Juan Francisco D’Luna-Bilbao, were charged with “one count of possession of a weapon by an alien illegally in the U.S,” the Justice Department said in June. They could face a maximum of 10 years in prison. Marvin Gomez, one of the few survivors, told ABC News last fall that he was going to bring his whole family with him from Guatemala but then changed his mind, likely saving their lives. He recounted trapped victims begging smugglers for their lives, only to be told to be quiet. "The driver could hear us, and he said 'no' and told us to shut up and started insulting us,” Gomez said in the report. He recalled that some of the dead were people he’d befriended. Salazar in a subsequent tweet this week urged “migrants to not put their lives in hands of deceitful smugglers,” saying there “are legal pathways to request asylum.” But the reality of our current U.S. asylum system is much more complicated than that. Otherwise, migrants wouldn’t be forced to put themselves in the hands of smugglers in the first place. While certain migrants can now apply for a parole program that allows them to enter the U.S. if they have a financial sponsor, others who arrive to a port of entry outside the program are subject to expulsion under the ongoing Title 42 policy. Additionally, the administration has proposed an anti-asylum policy similar to the previous administration’s transit ban, which was thrown out by a judge appointed by that very administration back in 2020. A number of Democratic lawmakers and more than 100 organizations have urged the Biden administration to shield survivors from deportation and allow them to apply for certain visas available to victims of crime, noting that in past mass casualty events, “victims and witnesses have ended up detained and deported within hours after being released from the hospital.” In one ask, San Antonio Rep. Joaquin Castro said that victims “should not be worried about their future in the United States.” RELATED STORIES: Survivor from deadly smuggling incident says victims pleading for their lives were told to shut up San Antonio survivors must be allowed to apply for certain visas available to victims, groups say [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/1/2150523/-Mexican-government-says-its-charged-six-people-in-connection-with-deadly-U-S-smuggling-incident Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/