Border Patrol agents working the border near Eagle Pass, Texas, on Wednesday arrested four military-age Syrian migrants, a source within CBP told Breitbart Texas under the condition of anonymity. The four men attempted to sneak into the U.S. after illegally crossing the border from Coahuila, Mexico.
Human smugglers frequently move what Border Patrol calls Special Interest Aliens, migrants from nations with ties to terrorism, across the border away from large migrant group crossings, officials previously told Breitbart Texas. The large migrant groups serve as a distraction to agents who must use all available resources to process and document their apprehensions. This enables smugglers to move higher-value migrants or drugs across the unpatrolled border areas while agents are occupied.
The source told Breitbart the four Syrian men were not only of military age but are suspected to have military backgrounds.
Since the ensuing border crisis at the beginning of the Biden administration, more than 40 migrants who are listed on the terrorist watch list have been arrested as they attempted to enter the United States, according to a Fox News report. This number includes Border Patrol arrests and encounters at border crossings and other locations with CBP officers.
These numbers do not include migrants who illegally cross the border without being apprehended — what Border Patrol refers to as got-aways. In March alone, more than 62,000 migrants escaped apprehension, the Fox News report adds.
During the month of March, Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 210,000 migrants, according to the latest Southwest Land Border Encounters Report from CBP, Breitbart reported. This includes nearly 129,000 who entered through the five Texas-based Border Patrol sectors.
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.
Randy Clark contributed to this report.