Border Patrol agents and troops from the Texas Department of Public Safety rescued 39 migrants, including Cubans, from a burning trailer following a police chase in South Texas.
The incident occurred on June 4, during an operation that was captured on video and shared by U.S. authorities this Friday.
The incident began at 8:36 p.m. when the vehicle approached the Border Patrol checkpoint in Falfurrias, Encino, Texas, and a detection dog alerted the agents, who ordered a secondary inspection.
The driver, identified as Jairo Juli Holguín-Florentino, accelerated and fled north on US 281 before turning south toward Hidalgo County, ignoring the tire deflation devices deployed by the authorities.
The tractor-trailer caught fire because the driver continued to drive on the flat tires until the vehicle ignited, approximately six miles north of Linn.
After detaining Holguín-Florentino and his companion, Cristian Johansel Mirambeaux-Martínez —identified as his son-in-law in the criminal complaint— the agents heard screams coming from the trailer on fire.
They tried to force the lock unsuccessfully and had to ask the detainees for the keys to be able to open the door, revealing 39 people trapped inside while the vehicle was on fire.
Radio communications during the rescue confirmed: "We are evacuating people from the back of the trailer, there are about 30 of them" and "people are confirmed inside the trailer."
The 39 migrants rescued from the burning trailer were nationals of Brazil, Cuba, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela.
Everyone received medical attention, and no serious injuries were reported.
Two of the migrants stated that they were picked up from "safe houses" in Rome and Edinburgh, Texas, and identified the two detainees as the ones who loaded them into the trailer.
On June 7, the prosecutor's office filed a formal criminal complaint against both defendants on federal charges of conspiracy to transport foreigners in a manner that endangers their lives.
The case is under joint investigation by the Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Border Patrol, and the Office of Professional Responsibility of Customs and Border Protection.
The Cuban exodus continues to be a major driver of irregular migration to the United States, with routes shifting towards Brazil and South America in response to the tightening of immigration policies.
Between January and April of 2026, more than 13,000 Cubans requested refuge in Brazil, and more than 11,000 crossed from Brazil to Uruguay between January and October of 2025.
The most serious precedent for this type of operation occurred on June 27, 2022, when 53 migrants suffocated in an abandoned trailer in San Antonio, Texas; the leaders of that network were sentenced to life in prison.
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