Texas Highway Patrol troopers interdicted a large group of migrants shortly after they waded across the shallow Rio Grande north of Eagle Pass on Monday. The large group was one of two that the agency interdicted that day. According to a spokesperson for the Texas Highway Patrol, 27 migrants within the group were “Special Interest Aliens,” citizens of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, and India.
A second group of 41 migrants was arrested earlier in the day, bringing the total number of migrants apprehended by the Texas Army National Guard soldiers and the Texas troopers in the Eagle Pass area on Monday to 271.
According to a source within U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), many within the group will ultimately be released into the United States to pursue asylum claims due to difficulties returning them to their home countries. The source, not authorized to speak to the media, told Breitbart Texas that Monday’s group of migrants was the largest encountered in months.
“Since December, we’ve seen a steady decline in large group crossings; the groups returning have started to reach slightly more than 100 strong, but this is the first we’ve seen recently that exceeded 200,” the source emphasized.
The source says the recent increase in Special Interest Alien crossings in the Eagle Pass area is concerning. According to a 2019 DHS fact sheet, the term “Special Interest Alien” is defined as follows:
Generally, an SIA is a non-U.S. person who, based on an analysis of travel patterns, potentially poses a national security risk to the United States or its interests. Often such individuals or groups are employing travel patterns known or evaluated to possibly have a nexus to terrorism. DHS analysis includes an examination of travel patterns, points of origin, and/or travel segments that are tied to current assessments of national and international threat environments.
This does not mean that all SIAs are “terrorists,” but rather that the travel and behavior of such individuals indicates a possible nexus to nefarious activity (including terrorism) and, at a minimum, provides indicators that necessitate heightened screening and further investigation. The term SIA does not indicate any specific derogatory information about the individual – and DHS has never indicated that the SIA designation means more than that.
In addition to the Special Interest Aliens, the remainder of the migrants encountered by Texas law enforcement and military officers deployed under Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s Operation Lone Star hailed from a host of different countries. Some in the group will face criminal prosecution by the state authorities for trespassing violations. Those not prosecuted under state trespassing violations were turned over to the Border Patrol.
As reported by Breitbart, Texas, authorities have recently encountered large migrant groups crossing into Eagle Pass after a significant slowdown in crossings after increased election year enforcement efforts in Mexico significantly slowed the flow of migrants arriving at the United States border.
Since October, more than 237,000 migrants have been arrested after entering by the Border Patrol in the Del Rio Sector, which includes Eagle Pass.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX
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