Eight Undocumented Immigrants Killed in Head-On Vehicle Collision on U.S. Highway 277 North in Val Verde County, Texas
By: Ricardo E. Calderon, Eagle Pass Business Journal, Inc., Copyright 2021
Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez announced on Monday, March 15, 2021, that eight undocumented immigrants tragically died in a head-on vehicle collision between a red Dodge Pick-Up truck carrying nine immigrants and the driver with a white Ford F-150 Pick-Up truck driven by a man and accompanied by a child at approximately 1:26 p.m. on March 15 about 30 miles north of Del Rio, Texas near the United States-Mexico border.
Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Troopers were chasing the red Dodge Pick-Up truck with the immigrants on U.S. Highway 277 North when it collided head-on with the white Ford F-150 Pick-Up truck while allegedly evading the DPS Troopers.
Eight of the nine undocumented immigrants in the red Dodge Pick-Up truck died at the scene of the gruesome accident site while one other immigrant survived and was airlifted to a San Antonio, Texas medical center for treatment of his injuries. The driver of the red Dodge Pick-Up truck attempted to flee the accident scene into the rugged semi-arid desert brush country, but was apprehended by DPS Troopers.
The male driver of the white Ford F-150 Pick-Up truck and a child passenger survived the accident and were flown to a San Antonio medical center for treatment of their injuries and are in stable condition.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently reported a significant increase of undocumented immigrants being apprehended along the U.S.-Mexico border during February 2021 with 100,441 individuals detained.
The U.S. Border Patrol Del Rio Sector reported apprehending over 11,100 individuals of these 100,441 undocumented immigrants in February 2021, a 334% increase over February 2020.
On March 6, 2020, Texas Governor Gregg Abbott and Texas DPS Director Colonel Steve McCraw launched “Operation Lone Star” to “combat the smuggling of people and drugs into Texas.” “The Operation integrates DPS with the Texas National Guard and deploys air, ground, marine, and tactical border security assets to high threat areas to deny Mexican Cartels and other smugglers the ability to move drugs and people into Texas,” according to a press release issued by Abbott’s office on March 6. Abbott toured the Rio Grande Valley on Tuesday, March 9, and took an aerial tour of the U.S.-Mexico border and received a briefing from members of the Texas DPS, U.S. Border Patrol, and the Texas National Guard.
As of press time, it is unknown if the DPS Troopers involved in the chase of the red Dodge Pick-Up truck were Troopers participating in “Operation Lone Star.”
The Texas Department of Public Safety is further investigating the fatal head-on vehicle accident that resulted in the deaths of eight undocumented immigrants, including seven males and one female.
