D'Luna-Mendez Rivera-Leal D'Luna Bilbao On June 27, 2022, 53 migrants were found dead in and around a tractor-trailer near Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, United States.

Earlier in June, the Department of Homeland Security released details on the Biden administration's efforts to combat human smuggling and unauthorized migration in conjunction with the Summit of the Americas held in Los Angeles.

The series of operations launched across the Western Hemisphere is part of the largest human smuggling crackdown ever seen in the region, with more than 1,300 deployed personnel and nearly 2,000 smugglers arrested in just two months.

[5] The road runs parallel to Interstate 35, one of the major north-south routes in the central United States for traffic and commerce from the Southern border, which is often exploited by smugglers.

[10] San Antonio Police Chief William McManus reported that officers had received a call shortly before 6:00 p.m. after a person working nearby heard a cry for help.

San Antonio Fire Department arrived and found many deceased individuals and others too weak to free themselves even with the doors ajar, due to heat stroke and exhaustion from lack of air-conditioning and water in 100 °F (38 °C) conditions.

It had the same color and identifying numbers from the federal Department of Transportation and Texas DOT as the Betancourt trucks, but did not carry the company's logo as the business do.

[30] A makeshift memorial was created on the road where the truck was discovered, with flowers, Virgen de Guadalupe candles and gallons of water left at the site.

[31] Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei also lamented the deaths and asked that punishments for human trafficking be increased and that it be made an extraditable crime.

[32] United States President Joe Biden called the incident horrifying and heartbreaking and blamed smugglers who had no regard for others lives which lead to innocent deaths, and promoted the continued anti-smuggling partnership at the borders.

[24] Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Senator Ted Cruz blamed President Joe Biden, saying that his "open border" policies resulted in this and his "refusal to implement the law ... had deadly consequences".

[13] San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg called the discovery tragic and horrific, and he expressed the hope that those responsible would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

[11] San Antonio Fire Chief Charles Hood spoke of the tragedy and highlighted the impact it had on first responders, stating that, "We're not supposed to open a truck and see stacks of bodies in there ... none of us come to work imagining that.