Another of the 29 survivors of that immigrant smuggling horror has been released from the hospital. So what will happen to them now?
Alonzo Pena, who is a former Deputy Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and is now a private security consultant in San Antonio, tells News Radio 1200 WOAI that some will be allowed to stay in the U.S., potentially indefinately
.He says that is largely up to the discretion of the federal prosecutors who will try to make a case against truck driver James Bradley, and any others who may potentially be charged.
He says they have already begun interviewing the survivors as they look for the witnesses they will need to put on the stand.
"There is a process of either releasing them into the communities with certain conditions, so they can have them available as the case is prepared," Pena said.
He says GPS monitoring and other precautions will be taken, largely to make sure the immigrants are available to give depostions and testify at hearing and at the trials. And he says some may be able to obtain visas for a longer, or possibly indefinite stay.
"There are certain viaas for witnesses, there are certain visas for victims," he said. "Each of those cases will have to be reviewed to determine if it is in the best interests of the U.S. to allow them to stay."
But those who are of no use to prosecutors will be deported, Pena says, and those who are found to have been previously deported and returned to the U.S., as one apparently has, could face prison time.
"They can be prosecuted if you re-enter the country after deportation."
But he says the real 'golden ticket,' which may be dangled before the survivors who are best able to assist prosecutors, is what is called an S-Visa.
"The government allows 250 S-Visas every year," he said. "It has to be renewed every year, and then after a certain number of years the immigrant can apply for permanent status."