30 Migrants in Stolen Pickup Truck Apprehended near Arizona Border

Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents arrested 30 migrants after a human smuggler packed them into a stolen pickup truck. The migrants, all Mexican nationals, included women and children, officials stated.

Tucson Sector agents patrolling near Douglas, Arizona, on August 3, received information from residents regarding a suspicious truck near the border with Mexico. Agents responded and found the truck on a dirt road, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials.

Agents attempted to stop the vehicle. The driver stopped and bailed out of the truck. The agents were unable to pursue the driver on foot because of the discovery of a large load of people packed inside, officials stated.

Agents found 30 people. An immigration interview revealed all to be Mexican nationals illegally present in the United States, the report states.

The driver managed to escape. A records check on the truck revealed it had been reported stolen from the Phoenix area.

“Smugglers have long disregarded the safety of migrants. Now, during the pandemic, they not only risk the lives of migrants, they risk all of our lives by shoving migrants into vehicles without social distancing, without facial masks, and without any regard for the exposure of COVID-19 to other migrants and (the) public at large, ” Tucson Sector Chief Patrol Agent Roy Villareal said in a written statement. “They show no regard for the lives they exploit, our workforce or the communities our agents strive to protect in the midst of this public health crisis.”

The agents transported the migrants to a processing station where they underwent a medical screening and criminal history check. Once cleared, they were promptly expelled to Mexico under Title 42 Coronavirus protection protocols put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CBP Acting Commissioner Mark Morgan recently told Breitbart Texas in an interview that most Mexican and Central American Northern Triangle migrants are expelled to Mexico within two hours of their apprehension.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Facebook.