Border Patrol, ICE Team Up to Rescue 39 Migrants from Border Stash House

Border Patrol agents in the Del Rio Sector teamed up with agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to rescue 39 illegal immigrants from a human smuggling stash house in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Eagle Pass Station agents assisted ICE Homeland Security Investigations agents in the execution of an ICE obtained search warrant for a suspected human smuggling stash house on May 23. Maverick County Sheriff’s Office deputies teamed up with the federal agents to conduct the raid.

The law enforcement team found 39 illegal immigrants, men and women, from El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and Nicaragua locked inside the house located near the Texas border with Mexico. Officials said the temperature inside the home was nearly 115 degrees and the migrants had little access to water.

Officials arrested a U.S. citizen who appeared to be in charge of the stash house. The man will face federal human smuggling charges, according to information obtained by Breitbart Texas from ICE officials.

Because of the dangerous conditions inside the house, officials provided emergency medical assistance to the migrants.

Breitbart Texas has reported extensively on what appears to be an increasing number of stash houses being raided by federal officials along the border in recent months.

Earlier this month, ICE agents teamed up with Border Patrol agents to rescue 36 more migrants in a stash house in the Laredo Sector. Officials frequently report the “deplorable” conditions of the stash houses where dozens of people are packed into small houses with inadequate bathroom space and filthy living conditions.

Rio Grande Valley Sector agents rescued 66 more illegal immigrants from stash houses near McAllen, Texas, earlier this month.

Migrants are kept locked inside stash houses near the Mexican border until their journey to the U.S. interior can be scheduled. Often, they are beaten and held for ransom as cartel-connected human smugglers attempt to extort additional money from family members. Women in the groups are also frequently raped by their captors.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has promised a crackdown on people who illegally cross the border and those who prey upon them as human smugglers.

“If you cross the border unlawfully, then we will prosecute you — it’s that simple. If you smuggle illegal aliens across our border, we will prosecute you,” Sessions said earlier this month.