53 killed in migrant trailer-tractor were from Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, officials say

EAGLE PASS, Texas (KTRK) -- Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to hold a press conference Wednesday after getting an update on the border crisis in Eagle Pass. It comes after 53 migrants were found dead in a tractor-trailer in San Antonio.

This migrant-smuggling operation that unfolded Monday evening is being called the worst case of human smuggling in the United States. The question now is, what is going to be done about it?

Candlelight vigils were held Tuesday night across the state, including in Houston.

Organizers mourned the dead and injured but also called for a change on the southern border.

Immigration advocates said the current policies on the border lead immigrants to taking huge risks when coming into the U.S. Those risks include paying human smugglers to bring them across. This time it lead to 53 deaths.

The state has spent resources trying to secure the border, but immigration advocates said it is not working and the conditions migrants face are inhumane.

WATCH: Advocate says it's not time for fear-mongering after smuggling operation

Gov. Abbott blamed these deaths on Biden's 'open border policies,' but an immigration advocate disagrees, saying if the border was open, migrants wouldn't take extreme measures to get here.

"The smugglers, they sometimes don't even care if these individuals make it into the United States, in fact we know sometimes they set up these decoys to distract Border Patrol agents so they can get another group or drugs through and so these smugglers in general do not have many morals or ethics except for the bottom line," said Vicki Gaubeca, with Southern Border Communities Coalition.

SEE RELATED STORY: 'It was very painful to watch my sister die:' Survivor of smuggling attempt says of journey to US

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