71 Migrants Found in Texas Human Stash House near Border

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents continue to find stash houses near the border where smugglers warehouse their human cargo. Most recently, agents in Pharr, Texas, found 71 migrants packed into a single house.

Pharr Police Department officers contacted McAllen Station agents about a suspected human smuggling stash house in their border community. The agents and officers teamed up and conducted a welfare check on the residence, according to Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol officials.

When the team made entry into the house, agents found 71 illegal immigrants, officials stated. The agents conducted immigration interviews and identified the migrants as having traveled to the U.S. from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and Nicaragua.

Agents identified three of the people as unaccompanied minors who were traveling alone.

Despite the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, human smugglers continue pushing migrants into the United States in unsafe and often unsanitary conditions. These include packing the migrants into tractor-trailers, trunks of cars, and warehousing them in these types of stash houses. Agents report rarely finding any kind of social distancing or personal protection equipment being utilized.

The Rio Grande Valley continues to lead the nation in the apprehension of migrants who illegally enter the United States.

On Wednesday, agents in this sector apprehended more than 100 migrants shortly after they crossed the border, Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Patrol Agent Brian Hastings tweeted.