U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials admit they release certain migrants without issuing a Notice to Appear before an immigration court on a specified date. The official, however, said this is not a “change in policy.”
Border Patrol agents in the Texas Rio Grande Valley Sector apprehended more than 2,000 migrants who illegally crossed the border in a single day last week. A Border Patrol commander in the nation’s busiest human smuggling sector says his agents apprehended more than 34,000 migrants so far this month.
A senior-level law enforcement source with U.S.Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in the Rio Grande Valley revealed the implementation of a plan to release migrant families soon after apprehension. The plan radically changes how illegal migrants have been processed in the past and orders Border Patrol agents to quickly release migrant families without notifying the immigration courts or issuing a Notice to Appear.
Border Patrol agents in the nation’s busiest sector continue to encounter large groups of migrants illegally crossing from Mexico into South Texas. Nearly 24,000 were apprehended in the last two weeks alone — nearly 28,000 for all of February.
CBS News reports U.S. Border Patrol officials are holding more than 13,000 unaccompanied migrant children in custody along the Rio Grande. Many are being held for at least five days — well beyond the 72-hour legal limit.
A smuggler drove his pickup truck loaded with migrants into the Rio Grande following a pursuit in South Texas. Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended five migrants as they swam to the U.S. riverbank from the sinking truck. The driver fled to Mexico.
Border Patrol agents assigned to the five Texas-based sectors apprehended nearly 64,000 migrants in February. This represents an increase of more than 27 percent from the previous month.
The Biden Administration is flying migrants from packed Border Patrol facilities in the Rio Grande Valley Sector to El Paso, according to U.S. Representative Veronica Escobar (D-TX). Two flights carrying 270 migrants in total are expected to make the journey on Monday, a local charity group said.
U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar (D-TX) reported the apprehension of approximately 10,000 migrants in the last seven days in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. He said agents apprehended 2,500 in the past two days alone.
Municipal officials in Brownsville, Texas, say that six percent of migrants released into their community who are tested for COVID-19 are getting positive results. More than 100 tested positive since the releases began in late January.
Law enforcement sources report huge increases in the apprehension of unaccompanied children (UAC) along the Texas border with Mexico. Despite the opening of a new facility in Carrizo Springs, Texas, Border Patrol facilities continue to experience overcrowding not seen since the 2019 migrant crisis.
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.
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.
Federal law enforcement sources report that Border Patrol agents will now rely on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers to conduct migrant releases when detention space is not available in the Texas Rio Grande Valley. Migrant releases coordinated specifically by Border Patrol directly into border communities will be a last-resort option. Border Patrol officials are instructed to conduct the local releases only when ICE cannot cope with the level of arrests made by the Border Patrol.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents rescued a migrant woman who had just delivered a baby in subfreezing conditions near the Texas border with Mexico.
Border Patrol agents working the Texas-Mexico border carried out multiple migrant rescue operations as a historic winter storm grips the entire state. Border Patrol officials responded to rolling power outages and provided assistance to local communities as frigid temperatures struck even the Rio Grande Valley.
Nearly two-thirds of more than 75,000 migrants apprehended by Border Patrol agents in January took place in the five sectors headquartered in Texas. Nearly one-fourth took place in the Rio Grande Valley Sector alone.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended 59 migrants warehoused near a Texas stash house near the Mexican border.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended two large groups of migrants during a one-hour period earlier this week near Mission, Texas. Agents also apprehended 56 others in a stash house and a failed human smuggling attempt.
A Texas Democrat state senator called the release by Border Patrol of migrant families who have not been tested for COVID-19 “unconscionable.” The senator’s comments followed the release of large numbers of migrant families in the Rio Grande Valley who have not been tested for Coronavirus.
Texas health officials reportedly sent 10,000 COVID-19 test kits to the Rio Grande Valley in response to the “swelling numbers” of migrants being released into communities in recent days. The migrants are being released by Border Patrol agents without being tested for the Coronavirus.
Border Patrol agents in two Texas border sectors apprehended more than 160 migrants who were being held in human smuggling stash houses. The apprehensions took place in the Laredo and Rio Grande Valley Sectors.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents disrupted several human smuggling attempts over the weekend. The interdictions led to the apprehension of 161 migrants who illegally crossed the border from Mexico into Texas.
Rio Grande Valley Border Patrol agents arrested a previously deported child sex offender on Christmas Eve as he attempted to sneak into Texas. An Illinois court previously convicted the Salvadoran criminal alien for sexual assault against a child, Border Patrol officials stated.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents raided four human smuggling stash houses near the Texas border with Mexico during the past week. The raids led to the apprehension of nearly 100 migrants who were recently smuggled across the border. Additionally, agents found 24 migrants stashed in three vehicles being driven by suspected human smugglers.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents rescued 18 migrants who became unable to climb out of the frigid waters separating Texas and Mexico. The rescue took place in the pre-dawn hours of Tuesday near the Anzalduas Port of Entry.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents arrested 156 migrants during a four-day period ending on Thanksgiving. They recovered the migrants from life-threatening smuggling incidents.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents delivered a baby on a levee road near the Mexican border with Texas. The delivery occurred a short time after the mother, a Honduran citizen, illegally crossed the river to enter the United States.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents arrested 100 migrants in three human smuggling incidents. Two included crowded stash houses located near the Texas border with Mexico. The third was an illegal crossing thwarted by a new section of border wall.
Arrests of migrants illegally crossing the border between ports of entry in October jumped 87 percent over the same month last year. The numbers also increased 21 percent compared to last month, CBP officials report.
Border Patrol agents in Texas and Arizona arrested two previously deported convicted killers and a previously deported man convicted of sexual battery of an incapacitated person.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents found an abandoned one-year-old girl with a group of migrants who illegally crossed the Rio Grande into Texas. The discovery comes one day after agents found an abandoned four-year-old girl with a group of migrants.
Border Patrol agents found an unaccompanied four-year-old girl traveling with a group of smuggled migrants in Texas near the Rio Grande border with Mexico. Officials report the father, living in the U.S., said the mother abandoned the little girl.
Border Patrol agents in California, Arizona, and Texas arrested multiple previously deported sex offenders after they illegally crossed into the U.S. from Mexico.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents teamed up with local law enforcement to disrupt multiple human smuggling operations. The raids on human smuggling stash houses and stopped transport vehicles led to the arrest of more than 100 migrants in a single day.
A migrant attacked a Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agent and seized control of his Electronic Control Weapon (ECW). The agent sustained a broken nose and multiple lacerations.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents found a 13-year-old and his infant brother. Their mother abandoned the siblings in Mexico three weeks ago, officials report.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents joined local and federal law enforcement partners to raid four human smuggling stash houses. Despite the threat of the Coronavirus pandemic, cartel-connected human smugglers continue to put lives at risk by packing migrants into houses and tractor-trailer rigs without masks or other personal protection equipment.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents arrested a previously deported child sex offender. The arrest occurred as the criminal alien attempted to sneak around the Falfurrias checkpoint in Brooks County, Texas.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents arrested 60 migrants in multiple human smuggling interdictions during a two-day period. The agents disrupted stash house operations and intercepted transportation efforts.
