HOUSTON, Texas — Amid the border crisis taking place in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector, other areas along Texas’ southern border have seen an increase in criminal foreigners entering the U.S. illegally, Breitbart Texas has learned.
Since the current border crisis began in October 2013, tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors from Central America have crossed into McAllen–a city located near Texas’ most southern point in the RGV Sector–illegally from Mexico. The situation has caused the U.S. Border Patrol to largely focus its efforts in that area. Governor Rick Perry additionally deployed National Guard troops to the sector to assist Border Patrol.
All the while, however, many have speculated that other areas of the Texas-Mexico border have been left wide open for exploitation.
Jose Castro is a spokesperson for the Border Patrol’s rural Del Rio Sector, which is located to the northeast of the RGV Sector.
Castro told Breitbart Texas that his area has apprehended ore criminals, particularly convicted sex offenders, who entered the U.S. illegally.
“We’ve seen an increase in apprehensions in people who had been deported who had been convicted of sexual crimes,” Castro said. “Last year, we apprehended 16 previously deported sex offenders in Del Rio Sector. But from October 2013 to August 19 2014 28 individuals were apprehended who are previously convicted felons for sexual offenses.”
Many have surmised that the border crisis, involving minors, in McAllen has made the rest of the border–particularly rural regions such as Del Rio–more porous for criminal crossers.
Castro affirmed this theory, with respect to sexual offenders. He said, “The trend in our sector is that we’re noticing a big increase [in apprehended sex offenders]. We’re part of that South Texas corridor campaign, and are trying to target corridors that might be exploited by criminal organizations. Individuals who have committed violence are going to go to less populated areas to try to come into the country. The Rio Grande Valley is more of an urban place, but Del Rio is more rural. People who pose a threat to our country are going to try to exploit that.”
Just earlier this week, Breitbart Texas reported on the recent arrests of two convicted sexual offenders in the Del Rio sector. Both offenders were from Central America and had previously been deported from the United States.
According to Castro, agents in his area are utilizing technology to efficiently apprehend as many criminal aliens as possible. “As apprehensions increase, we’re flexible and utilizing our resources to target those individuals,” he said.
Breitbart Texas has repeatedly presented evidence that the current border crisis has made the rest of the Texas-Mexico border more unsecured.
In July Breitbart Texas Managing Director Brandon Darby organized a team of grassroots leaders to tour the Texas-Mexico border. The trip highlighted just how unsecured the border is outside of the RGV Sector.
Darby said, “The federal government, the State of Texas, and the media have presented a picture that the increase in security in the Rio Grande Valley sector is somehow representative of an increase in security along all of Texas’ border with Mexico.” In reality, however, Darby pointed out that “most of the border is still wide open.”
He continued, “We wanted grassroots leaders to witness for themselves what the reality is and we wanted them to feel what the often solo agents feel out there along the river.”
Follow Kristin Tate on Twitter @KristinBTate.