500 Migrants Apprehended in Single Day in One Texas Border Sector

Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended more than 500 migrants in a single day. The apprehensions took place along a small section of the border with Mexico near Mission, Texas.

McAllen Station Border Patrol agents working the border near Mission, Texas, on the night of February 24 encountered a single group of 130 migrants. The majority of the migrants were families and unaccompanied minors, according to information obtained from Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol officials.

Officials said large groups of migrants crossing the border to surrender to law enforcement have, once again, become commonplace in this small section of the border.

The agents conducted immigration interviews and identified the migrants as having come to the United States from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

Earlier that day, agents received information from the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office regarding a suspected human smuggling stash house near Mission. As the agents and deputies arrived at the location, some of the suspected migrants began to flee.

Agents found 36 people inside a small area inside the makeshift residence. During the initial screening, the agents found two of the migrants exhibited flu-like symptoms. Another migrant appeared to be suffering from epilepsy.

Officials reported this group came to the United States from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico.

A video tweeted by Rio Grande Valley Sector Chief Patrol Agent Brian Hastings shows the makeshift nature of the stash house utilized by human smugglers to warehouse their “human cargo.”

“Even with the spread of the COVID-19 virus, human smugglers continue to try these brazen attempts with zero regard for the lives they endanger nor to the health of the citizens of our great nation,” Rio Grande Valley Sector officials said in a written statement.