Driver Plows SUV into Migrants in Brownsville, Texas, Killing Eight
HAVANA TIMES – In Brownsville, Texas, eight people were killed and at least 10 others injured Sunday after an SUV plowed into a group of pedestrians gathered at a bus stop near a shelter for migrants and unhoused people not far from the U.S.-Mexico border. The driver was treated for injuries and arrested for reckless driving, though is likely to face additional charges. Investigators say the driver is refusing to identify himself and is not cooperating with their probe into whether the killings were intentional. At least one witness reported the driver gestured at and insulted migrants as his car plowed into them. An unidentified witness reflected on the journey taken by migrants who were injured in the crash.
Witness: “We hope they will recover, because they have families far away who count on them. We crossed mountains, marched and passed migration. It was a long way to come here, and we fought hard.”
The ACLU of Texas noted the crash followed weeks of escalating anti-immigrant policymaking by Texas lawmakers, and while the Biden administration considers imposing a new ban on the right to seek asylum in the U.S. when the Trump-era Title 42 policy ends on Thursday. In a statement, the ACLU added, “President Biden, Texas Gov. Abbott, and other elected officials continue to spread fear about immigration instead of treating the needs of people crossing the border as a humanitarian matter.”