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The death toll of migrants who have succumbed to the heat after being trapped in a tractor-trailer has risen to 53.
Discovered on June 27 on a remote stretch on San Antonio's Southwest Side, these migrants deserved a humane and fair immigration system -- one that honors the rights of asylum workers, recognizes our workforce needs and reflects the inherent dignity in all people.
But what migrants navigate in the United States -- whether in the back of a tractor-trailer, trekking across the desert or crossing the Rio Grande -- is a broken and politicized immigration system that denies our shared humanity and forces many people to put their lives at risk.
We should all ask ourselves: Just what would it take to climb into the back of a tractor-trailer and risk such a perilous journey for a better life? Just what circumstances would lead a person to flee their home country? And just what hopes and dreams would that person be seeking?
We know many of the migrants who were found dead Monday came from Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. Migrants from these countries, which have been rocked by cartels and gang violence, are likely to be expelled from the United States under Title 42, the deeply flawed public health policy masquerading as immigration policy to deny asylum claims and due process.
Border hawks like to hype Title 42 as a deterrent, but this isn't the case. As we editorialized in May after a federal judge maintained Title 42, the public health law has fueled border crossings.
Why? Because it is a public health law, not an immigration law. Title 42 carries no legal consequences, and as such, it encourages people to risk crossing the U.S.-Mexico border again and again.
In other words, Title 42 is often what leads people to attempt crossing the Rio Grande or climb into the back of a tractor-trailer despite suffocating heat.
Since its implementation in March 2020, Title 42 has led to some 2 million expulsions.
This tragedy, like those that have come before it, deserves an urgent humanitarian response. But it has instead received a predictable political one.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wasted no time in placing the blame on the White House, tweeting, "These deaths are on Biden. They are a result of his deadly open border policies."
The Biden administration has been utterly incoherent on immigration and border security, but so have other recent administrations.
The United States desperately needs comprehensive immigration reform. One that would allow asylum-seekers to present themselves at ports of entry and honor their due process. One that offers legal pathways for workers. And one that addresses root causes of immigration.
As San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said, "The plight of migrants seeking refuge is always a humanitarian crisis."
Until we achieve comprehensive reforms, the humanitarian crisis will endure and horrors like this will persist. Immigration is not a political issue. It is a human one. And it demands our moral urgency.
* Guest editorial excerpt by the San Antonio Express-News