MCALLEN, Texas — Central and South American immigrants are finding loopholes in order to manipulate the United States immigration system so they can stay. Law enforcement officials from the various agencies that make up the Department of Homeland Security have reached out to Breitbart Texas pointing out the new practices being taught to illegal immigrants by smugglers.

Under the claim of demanding humanitarian parole, individuals who at times have been previously deported are working the system in order to receive a temporary permission to stay, the officials said.

Various law enforcement officials who work in the immigration processing of these individuals claim that more and more groups are arriving at ports of entry, also known as international bridges and demanding the protected status.

The little known phrase is called “Humanitarian Parole” which is different than refugee status. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a refugee is identified as a person who “unable to or unwilling to return to his or her country of nationality because of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.”

A humanitarian parole, is a measure used by immigration officials to bring someone who is otherwise inadmissible into the United States for a temporary period of time due to a compelling emergency.

While the measure is set to protect individuals fleeing legitimate persecution, various sources within the Department of Homeland Security that spoke with Breitbart Texas confirmed that Central and South American  immigrants appear to be coached when dealing with immigration officials.

According to government documents that Breitbart Texas had access to, on May 6, a previously deported Mexican woman arrived at a port of entry with her 6-year-old paralyzed child. The woman requested protected status claiming she was “in fear” of returning to her home country. The woman had initially entered the U.S. in 2014 and been released with a notice to appear. She later self-deported after authorities tracked her down for not showing up to her hearings.

Because of the child’s condition and the claims of fearing for her safety in the country that she had previously voluntarily returned to, immigration agents were forced to let her go, a law enforcement official said to Breitbart Texas asking for anonymity.

On May 9, in Brownsville, a Brazilian man arrived at the port of entry with his nine year old daughter claiming they were in fear for their lives, information leaked to Breitbart Texas revealed. The following morning the man’s wife and other children arrived at the port of entry also claiming to be in fear for their lives.

The likely outcome of the case will deal with immigration officials signing off on their temporary status, one of the law enforcement officials who spoke with Breitbart Texas under conditions of anonymity said.

The concerns brought up by the law enforcement officials are not new. In 2014, then U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director John Sandweg told the LA Times, “If you are a run-of-the-mill immigrant here illegally, your odds of getting deported are close to zero — it’s just highly unlikely to happen,”

The frustration shown by immigration officials and other border enforcement agents comes at a time when the area known as the Rio Grande Valley is once again seeing an increase in the the number of children and families coming over the Rio Grande border with Mexico. According to statistics released by U.S. Border Patrol, from the start of 2016 until March, the RGV sector saw a 120 percent increase in the number of family units from 9,673 to 21, 303. Similarly the number of unaccompanied children jumped 81 percent from 9076 to 16,41.

The claims brought up by the various agents that spoke with this outlet are almost identical to the testimony before Congress brought forward by the National Border Patrol Council. The union that represents 18,000 men and women in the U.S. Border Patrol previously testified before congress about being forced to release individuals in the country illegally and even illegal aliens with a criminal history.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.