Texas tragedy highlights migrants’ perilous journey to cross US border

The number of migrant deaths in 2021 was 650, a stark reminder of the human cost of US immigration policies

The deaths of 50 migrants - traveling from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras - in terrible conditions in Texas has cast a spotlight on the immense risks people are willing to take to cross the US border in search of a better financial life or escaping violence in their native countries.

Laura Pena, the legal director of the Texas Civil Rights Project's Beyond Borders program, represents asylum seekers at the border. Responding to the tragedy in San Antonio, she said both the Texas governor, Greg Abbott, and President Biden have utterly failed people who are trying to seek safety by crossing the border".