HOUSTON (AP) – Federal authorities are detaining some survivors of a deadly human smuggling operation in the same facility as the driver of the truck in which they were smuggled, and advocates are worried that it could further traumatize them.
Michael McCrum, an attorney for survivors, says a few of them have even briefly shared a holding cell with James Matthew Bradley Jr., who faces a human smuggling charge with the possibility of the death penalty.
Ten people died after being taken from the Texas border to San Antonio in a sweltering tractor-trailer.
Federal authorities in San Antonio have detained 18 passengers as material witnesses. Prosecutors declined to say where all of the witnesses are being held.
Amy Fischer, policy director for the legal group RAICES, says her group has “a lot of concerns” about the survivors’ treatment.
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