Mexican authorities discovered over 100 unaccompanied migrant children and 212 adults from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, and Ecuador, along with 28 migrants traveling as families inside an abandoned trailer on Sunday.
The trailer was found along the side of the Cosamaloapan-La Tinaja highway and had been rigged with fans, a metal structure that created a second level, and makeshift vents in its ceiling.
Video footage shows swarms of migrants being helped out from the back of the crowded trailer, and the unaccompanied children will be placed into the custody of Veracruz’s family services system.
The other migrants will be processed to determine their legal status in Mexico. This is one of the largest recent discoveries of minors migrating through Mexico.
In January, nearly 60 children without adult supervision were discovered inside a crowded truck bringing about 70 migrants from Guatemala into Mexico.
Most of the truck’s occupants were young, unaccompanied boys who were between the ages of 14 and 17.
Mexican authorities have been struggling to contain the growing numbers of migrants crossing through their country, as many are fleeing violence, poverty, and political instability in Central America and seeking asylum in the United States.
However, the journey is often fraught with danger, as smugglers frequently cram migrants into overcrowded vehicles and abandon them along the way.
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