Eight illegal immigrants die in head-on crash on a highway in Texas - the second fatal smash involving migrants in two weeks - after they failed to stop for police

 Eight people in a pickup truck filled with immigrants were killed after the vehicle crashed into another truck during a police chase that began when the driver refused to pull over for a traffic violation near the Texas border city of Del Rio, authorities said.

The collision happened just weeks after one of the deadliest highway crashes involving migrants entering the U.S. without permission and amid rising crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border. 

The Texas Department of Public Safety says troopers were chasing a red Dodge pickup truck on U.S. Highway 277 on Monday afternoon when the truck collided head-on with a white Ford F-150 nearly 30 miles north of Del Rio.

Eight people in a pickup truck loaded with immigrants were killed when the vehicle collided with an SUV following a police chase, authorities said

Eight people in a pickup truck loaded with immigrants were killed when the vehicle collided with an SUV following a police chase, authorities said

Debris is strewn across a road near the border city of Del Rio, Texas after a collision on Monday, Eight people in a pickup truck loaded with immigrants were killed when the vehicle collided with an SUV following a police chase, authorities said

Debris is strewn across a road near the border city of Del Rio, Texas after a collision on Monday, Eight people in a pickup truck loaded with immigrants were killed when the vehicle collided with an SUV following a police chase, authorities said

The driver and a child passenger of the Ford F-150 were hospitalized, as was one of the passengers from the Dodge pickup, according to the agency's statement.  


All eight of the people killed and the surviving passenger of the Dodge pickup were immigrants in the U.S. without authorization, according to DPS. 


In a statement Tuesday, the agency did not specify what type of traffic violation occurred that prompted patrol troopers to pursue the Dodge pickup.

The people killed were all Mexican nationals between the ages of 18 and 20, according to Val Verde County Sheriff Joe Frank Martinez. He said seven were men and one was a woman. 

The scene of fatal crash Scene near the border city of Del Rio, Texas after a collision Monday

The scene of fatal crash Scene near the border city of Del Rio, Texas after a collision Monday

A medevac  helicopter landed at the scene to assist with the operation

A medevac  helicopter landed at the scene to assist with the operation

DPS did not say why troopers were pursuing the truck. A spokesperson said the agency would release more details on the cause of the pursuit and the names of the victims later Tuesday.

'Preliminary investigation revealed a red Dodge pickup was evading from DPS troopers traveling on US 277 when it caused a head-on collision with a white Ford F-150,' the Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement to Fox News. 

'Due to injuries sustained, 8 undocumented passengers from the Dodge pickup were pronounced deceased on scene.' 

The driver of the Dodge pickup truck, Sebastian Tovar, 24, ran away following the crash, but was later arrested, according to the state agency. 

A DPS spokesperson said Tovar was booked into federal custody and additional state charges were pending. 

"A driver and a child passenger from the Ford pickup and one undocumented passenger from the Dodge pickup were transported to a hospital in San Antonio and are in stable condition,' the statement continued.

Earlier this month, 13 people were killed in one of the deadliest highway crashes involving migrants sneaking into the U.S. 

An SUV, pictured above, crossed over the US-Mexican border illegally earlier this month morning before crashing into a gravel truck in a fatal collision that killed 13 illegal immigrants

 An SUV, pictured above, crossed over the US-Mexican border illegally earlier this month morning before crashing into a gravel truck in a fatal collision that killed 13 illegal immigrants 

The crash happened after a Ford Expedition and Chevrolet Suburban entered California through a section of border fence with Mexico that was cut away, apparently by smugglers, according to immigration officials.

The crashes come amid rising crossings along the U.S.-Mexico border.

'We are on pace to encounter more individuals on the southwest border than we have in the last 20 years,' Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement issued Tuesday.

'This is not new,' he said, citing previous surges in border crossings in 2019 and 2014, but noted that the number of encounters at the southwest border has been steadily increasing since last April.

This photo provided by the US Customs and Border Protection shows a hole cut into Southern California's border fence with Mexico through which 44 people crossed into the country in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Thirteen of them died in a crash just an hour later

This photo provided by the US Customs and Border Protection shows a hole cut into Southern California's border fence with Mexico through which 44 people crossed into the country. Thirteen of them died in a crash just an hour later

Authorities examine mangled SUV after deadly accident
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But pressure is mounting on President Joe Biden to fix situation at the border as a group of Republicans went to visit the area on  Monday to highlight the crisis amid reports the children are living in overcrowded 'jail-like' conditions. 

House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy visited the border in El Paso, Texas, with fellow GOP lawmakers as a surge of unaccompanied minors has led to them being held in warehouse-like detention facilities run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

The situation is being described as a humanitarian crisis as children live in crowded conditions - some without beds - and unable to shower or get enough to eat. 

The Biden administration repeatedly has refused to call it a 'crisis' as they struggle to process the minors so the children can be transferred to the DHS shelters where they would stay until they could be united with family members already in the U.S. or with a sponsor. 

The children are supposed to be transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services within three days. 

But more than 4,200 kids are being held in jail-like stations unfit to house them, according to government records reviewed by CBS News, with 3,000 held past the legal limit.

Migrant children and teenagers from the southern border of the United States being held a temporary facility in Midland, Texas

Migrant children and teenagers from the southern border of the United States being held a temporary facility in Midland, Texas

Intensive care tents sit in a row at a Influx Care Facility (ICF) for unaccompanied children in Carrizo Springs, Texas, where another temporary shelter has been built

Intensive care tents sit in a row at a Influx Care Facility (ICF) for unaccompanied children in Carrizo Springs, Texas, where another temporary shelter has been built

And the centers are well above capacity to hold the children - some by as much as 700 per cent. 

An average of 565 unaccompanied minors entered CBP custody each day during the past week. And they are spending an average of 117 hours in a border facility, CBS reported.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas has said the facilities are 'no place for a child.'

But the administration has argued it needs its nominee to led DHS - Xavier Becerra - confirmed to help manage the situation. Biden, however, has yet to name nominees to lead CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, leaving those agencies without top leadership. 

Meanwhile, a new center was opened in Midland, Texas, on Sunday to help alleviate the overcrowding caused by the record number of migrants. A shelter also was recently opened in Carrizo Springs, Texas.

The Biden administration also directed the shelters to return to normal capacity, despite the coronavirus pandemic. Previously, social distancing and other health protocols were in place to combat the disease. 

Media is not being allowed inside the shelters but lawyers are. Some of the attorneys told CBS News that the children told them they are hungry; only showering once in as many as seven days; and are not able to call family members. 

Migrant children and teenagers at the facility in Midland, Texas

Migrant children and teenagers at the facility in Midland, Texas

Coach-style buses carrying migrant children and teenagers from the southern border line up at the entrance of a temporary holding facility in Midland, Texas

Coach-style buses carrying migrant children and teenagers from the southern border line up at the entrance of a temporary holding facility in Midland, Texas

More than 4,200 kids are being held, according to government records reviewed by CBS News, with 3,000 held past the legal limit of three days

More than 4,200 kids are being held, according to government records reviewed by CBS News, with 3,000 held past the legal limit of three days

Drone footage shows surge of migrants at US-Mexico border
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In what was seen as a nod to the growing gravity of the situation, Biden administration officials announced over the weekend that FEMA will help process the influx of children coming into the country.

'Our goal is to ensure that unaccompanied children are transferred to HHS as quickly as possible, consistent with legal requirements and in the best interest of the children,' Mayorkas said in a statement. 

And ICE has asked for volunteers to help at the border.

Both sides are blaming the other.

McCarthy has put the blame solely on Biden. He and other Republicans claim the surge in migrants is because Biden rolled back President Donald Trump's more restrictive immigration policies. 

'This crisis at the border is spiraling out of control,' McCarthy said last week. 'And it's entirely caused by the actions of this administration.'  

Democrats have claimed they inherited a 'broken system' while Republicans say the Biden administration sparked chaos at the southern border by ripping up Trump's hardline policies

Before the migrants could get lost or come to any harm, agents led them to a clearing where they handed out face masks and started the laborious process of inspecting their papers and taking biometric data

Before the migrants could get lost or come to any harm, agents led them to a clearing where they handed out face masks and started the laborious process of inspecting their papers and taking biometric data

Biden lifted the Trump policy that required migrants to remain in Mexico while going through the legal process to enter the U.S., narrowed the ICE's criteria for arrests and deportations and stopped the building of Trump's border wall.  

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, however, blamed the Trump administration for the situation.

'What the administration has inherited is a broken system at the border and they are working to correct that in the children's interest,' she said Sunday on ABC's 'This Week.'

Meanwhile, the House will vote this week on two bills aimed at tackling the immigration crisis: The American Dream and Promise Act would establish a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the country as children - known as the 'Dreamers' - while the Farm Workforce Modernization Act would allow agricultural workers to establish temporary status with an eventual option to become a permanent resident.

Last month, 100,000 migrants were caught trying to cross the southern border -  up 30 percent from January. 

And numbers are continuing to increase this month, with 125,000 migrants expected to arrive along the border in March, according to current data. 

That is the highest number in years - and officials fear the figure will soar even further throughout the spring.

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