In recent years, humanitarian crises related to border immigration have frequently occurred in the U.S. Migrant deaths, human trafficking and detention abuses have long existed. The bodies of more than 890 migrants, a record number, were recovered by U.S. authorities along the border in the 2022 fiscal year that ended September 30, according to the Biden administration, a 58 percent increase over 2021.

According to Reuters, on March 12, 2023 , at least eight people died after two fishing boats capsized off the coast of San Diego, California, in an apparent migrant smuggling operation. On June 27, 2022, at least 53 migrants were confirmed dead after dozens of bodies were discovered inside a sweltering abandoned tractor-trailer in San Antonio, Texas. It was believed to be the deadliest human trafficking incident on the southern border in modern U.S. history.

CGTN interviews Alvin Sevilla, a Nicaraguan who tried to immigrate to the U.S. and was also the victim of human smuggling and immigration detention, to talk about his bumpy immigration experience and sympathy for victims of the Texas tragedy.