Editor’s Desk: A deadly passage in Texas

By Theodore Ross

On June 27, 2022, 66 undocumented migrants from Mexico and Central America climbed into the back of a refrigerated tractor trailer in San Antonio, Texas, having already used smuggling networks charging them as much as $15,000 to get across the border. Tragically, the air-conditioning system in the trailer failed, and as temperatures reached more than 100 degrees that day, the migrants, including children, began to die. Eventually, 53 people lost their lives from heat-related injuries. 

“A Deadly Passage,” by Elliott Woods, published in partnership with Texas Monthly, is the first article in a two-part investigative series into what is believed to be the most lethal immigration-related disaster in U.S. history. 

Elliott traveled to Mexico and Guatemala to report the stories of the families of the migrants who lost their lives, many of whom were connected to the food system. Some were from itinerant farming families who had been internal migrants within their home countries, often for generations, and who were coming to America for better work. Others were coming here to labor in our fields, restaurants, and grocery stores. As Elliott writes:

I wanted to understand the forces that had driven their loved ones and millions like them to undertake the journey to the U.S. border. I wanted to weigh the enormity of the catastrophe from the perspective of the people who had seen their hopes of a better life destroyed by an act of carelessness, on the one hand, and by the broken U.S. immigration system, on the other. Those who died … left behind families that must contend with the ravages of grief and the social and financial fallout of losing a breadwinner, a parent, a spouse, or a child. Many of the families drained their savings or took out loans to finance their relative’s journey. Some leveraged their homes as collateral. Others put up agricultural plots that they rely on for subsistence. All of them will endure hardships for years to come.

One of the basic principles underpinning the work we do at FERN is that journalism about the food system matters. If you believe that reporting, investigation, and analysis about the most pressing issues of the day is a core component of a functioning democracy — and we do — then FERN’s mission on food and environment is inevitably part of that belief. 

Elliott’s story cuts to the heart of many of the Trump administration’s controversial policies: mass deportation, the slashing of temporary visa protection for migrants from countries such as Haiti and Venezuela, and the hyper-militarization of an already-militarized border. Elliott traces the human consequences of these inhumane government actions. In the coming months, we will return to this disaster with additional reporting.

Elliott’s work shows clearly why FERN needs support from dedicated, concerned people like you. He has been investigating this story for nearly two years, traveling to other countries and along the U.S. border, and he’s not done. I can’t say more plainly how important your donations are, and how grateful we are at FERN to have them. Please consider giving today to support this vital work.