Maverick County Texas officials likely have zero sympathy.
Migrant deaths straining morgues in Maverick County
https://www.krgv.com/news/migrant-deaths-straining-morgues-in-maverick-county
Morgues in Eagle Pass are running out of space as authorities say they continue to recover several dead migrants on the Rio Grande.
"We're up to one daily, approximately 30 a month,” Eagle Pass fire Chief Manuel Melo III said. “There were some days where we did recover six bodies.”
In a scene eerily similar to the height of the pandemic, the dead are being stored in refrigerated trucks. The county is also currently borrowing a refrigerated trailer from Eagle Pass with the capacity to store up to 30 bodies.
Due to the strain on the morgues, advocates say important steps usually taken to process and identify the bodies are being skipped.
"It's causing a strain on the county," Maverick County Justice Of The Peace Precinct 3-2 Jeannie Smith said.
On most weeks, county officials are processing several bodies. Melo III said the local morgue has room for fewer than eight bodies at a time.
There's a backlog on the medical examiner's office," Melo III said.
Eddie Canales, who runs the South Texas Human Rights Center in Falfurrias, said he worries the remains are being buried before they're fully identified.
“My understanding is the people were just buried in body bags, we confirmed that no DNA was taken," Canales said. “Very expeditiously and undignified."
Canales, who works in Brooks County to unite missing and deceased migrants with their families, says that's not in accordance with the law.
A spokesperson for the Maverick County judge's office said information from bodies - including place, date, and fingerprints - when possible, are being stored.
The spokesperson could not say if DNA is being collected.
