Texas County at Center of Border Fight Is Overwhelmed by Migrant Deaths
EAGLE PASS, Tex. - The undertaker lighted a cigarette and held it between his latex-gloved fingers as he stood over the bloated body bag lying in the bed of his battered pickup truck.
The woman had been fished out of the Rio Grande minutes earlier. Now, her body lay stiff as mortician Jesus “Chuy” Gonzalez drove away from the muddy boat ramp and toward an overcrowded freezer, passing mobile homes and a casino along the way.
Maverick County purchased the trailer during the pandemic to handle covid-19 victims. It was designed to hold 20 bodies but on this day held 28 - the putrefied remains testifying to two dozen shattered dreams of reaching the United States. Only half had names.
More: Texas county at center of border fight is overwhelmed by migrant deaths - Anchorage Daily News