Group of 50 Migrants Apprehended Marching Around Texas Border Checkpoint

Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 50 illegal immigrants on a ranch in South Texas. The group was apparently dropped off by human smugglers in an attempt to march them around an immigration checkpoint near Freer, Texas.

The agents received a tip about possible illegal activity in an area known for human smuggling. When the agents arrived, they discovered an abandoned vehicle. The agents began a search of the area and called for assistance from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Air and Marine Operations (AMO) helicopter, according to Laredo Sector Border Patrol officials.

As the search expanded, agents found three more abandoned vehicles, officials stated. The search continued until agents apprehended 46 illegal immigrants hiding in a brushy area.

Border Patrol agents arrested all 46 for immigration violations and seized four vehicles. Officials said the migrants came to the U.S. from “various countries.”

The four seized vehicles included three pickup trucks and an SUV.

Smugglers will frequently drop off their “human cargo” on ranches near Border Patrol immigration checkpoints in an effort to move the migrants to stash houses in the U.S. interior. The Freer Checkpoint is located in Duval County on U.S. Highway 59, about 43 miles west of Laredo, CBP officials reported.

If the migrants become ill, weak, injured, dehydrated, overheated, or for any other reason cannot keep up with the group, smugglers will simply abandon them and leave them to die in the hostile environment.

In August, Breitbart News reported that Border Patrol agents found the body of a migrant who fell victim to this practice.

Dispatchers in the Laredo Sector received information about a migrant left behind by smugglers after he became ill from the heat and could not keep pace. Border Patrol agents teamed up with Border Search, Rescue, and Trauma (BORSTAR) agents and air support to execute a search and rescue operation. The migrant became lost on a ranch near Freer.

After a search that lasted about 14 hours, agents came upon a migrant lying face down under a tree. The agents discovered he succumbed to the heat and passed away, officials stated.

During the first 10 months of 2018, at least 341 migrants died during or after crossing the U.S. border with Mexico, according to the International Organization of Migrant’s Missing Migrant Project.  This represents an increase of more than 15 percent over the same period in 2017 and a three percent increase over 2016 reports.

Of those 341 deceased migrants, more than 200 died in Texas.