EAGLE PASS, Texas — Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers interdicted 176 migrants in a single group after they crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico on Sunday. The group crossed into the United States near the small Texas border town of Eagle Pass shortly before noon. According to a DPS spokesperson, 11 migrants within the group were identified as Special Interest Aliens (SIA) from Afghanistan.

The large migrant group consisted of single adults, family group migrants, and unaccompanied migrant children. Migrants from a host of countries were identified within the group, including some from El Salvador, Ecuador, Cuba, Colombia, Brazil, and Venezuela. According to DPS spokesperson Lieutenant Chris Olivarez, 85 migrants within the group were prosecuted for criminal trespassing in accordance with Texas state law.

Family units and unaccompanied migrant children were among those not prosecuted for criminal trespassing. These were transferred to the Border Patrol for processing. Once criminal cases have concluded on those prosecuted under state law, the 85 migrants will also be transferred to the Border Patrol.

As reported by Breitbart Texas, Border Patrol discovered seven Special Interest Aliens from Iran among a group of 289 that crossed in the same general area on Friday. The agents apprehended a group of 289 migrants near Eagle Pass, Texas. Embedded with the group were seven Special Interest Aliens from Iran.

According to a source within CBP not authorized to speak to the media, Special Interest Alien crossings into Eagle Pass were once a rarity. Violence in Sinaloa, Mexico, according to the source, is one reason migrants from special interest countries may be choosing to enter the United States in Eagle Pass, Texas. The trend is concerning, the source told Breitbart Texas.

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.

The Texas Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol troopers participating in Sunday’s migrant arrests are part of Operation Lone Star, a border security initiative Texas Governor Greg Abbott initiated in March 2021. The operation includes Highway Patrol troopers and Texas Army National Guard soldiers deployed along the Texas-Mexico border.

Since the launch of Operation Lone Star through September, the effort has led to over 518,300 migrant apprehensions and more than 46,000 criminal arrests, with more than 40,000 felony charges. More than 521 million lethal doses of fentanyl during the border mission.

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.