A Honduran migrant will spend six and a half years in prison for his third conviction on human smuggling charges. The Honduran man had been smuggling migrants for more than nine years — some of that time while he was under asylum protection.
Miami Mayor and Republican presidential hopeful Francis Suarez says there is a sense of hopelessness along the border. People don’t see an end to the current crisis where only the cartels seem to be benefiting, he explained during a visit to the Texas/ Mexico border.
Francisco Torres Oropeza pleaded not guilty in an East Texas court on Capital Murder charges related to the alleged murder of five Honduran migrants. The Hondurans, including a young child, lived next door to Oropeza at the time of the reported shooting deaths.
Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents arrested two migrants in recent days with significant convictions for sex-related crimes in the United States. In one incident, agents arrested a man with a conviction from Utah for sexual abuse of a child. In the second, agents arrested a migrant with a conviction for attempted rape in Georgia.
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers found a group of ten migrant children abandoned by human smugglers near the border with Mexico. The children ranged in age from ten to 16 years.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials received a directive from their Washington, DC, headquarters instructing Border Patrol sectors to increase migrant releases, according to a source. On Tuesday, the number of migrants held in detention across the southwest border neared 20,000 following a renewed surge of migrant crossings. The directive called for the release of migrant family unit members into the United States in lieu of removal under Title 8.
The Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs and Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance will hold a joint hearing on Tuesday, August 8, on President Joe Biden’s border crisis and its effect on American communities.
A federal judge sentenced a Honduran man who later became a naturalized U.S. citizen to serve more than ten years in prison following his guilty plea on charges related to the possession of child pornography and conspiracy to commit human smuggling. Border Patrol agents arrested the man and an alleged conspirator in April 2021 near the U.S.-Canada border in Burke, New York, after finding him with a group of Vietnamese migrants who had crossed the border illegally.
New York officials will transform an assisted living facility in Staten Island into a shelter for migrants in the coming months, Staten Island Advance reported.
U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro (D-TX) told CNN Newsroom’s Jim Acosta he believes Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s use of razor wire and a floating border buoy system is “barbaric and inhumane.” Castro did not comment on the Biden administration’s use of the same wire to repel asylum seekers at ports of entry along the southwest border. At the ports, the wire is deployed atop gates and along temporary barriers used to close the ports when migrants rush the port without an appointment.
Swanton Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended more migrants during the first ten months of FY23 than in the prior nine years combined, an official tweeted. The unofficial report indicated the arrest of more than 5,400 migrants who illegally crossed the Canadian border into the U.S. since October 1, 2022.
Officers with Mexico’s National Institute of Migration (INM) “rescued” 756 mostly Central American migrants in several multi-agency law enforcement operations. The three operations took place in the Mexican States of Oaxaca and Puebla.
Border Patrol agents report increasing rescues as the number of migrants crossing the U.S. border with Mexico increases. Officials cite soaring temperatures as a reason for the spike in rescues. U.S. Border Patrol Chief Jason Owens tweeted photos from a
Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador lashed out once more against Texas Governor Greg Abbott, calling him inhumane and immoral for placing buoys and fencing on his state’s border. The Mexican politician blamed the buoys for the death of two migrants whose bodies were found by the barriers.
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers interdicted a human smuggling attempt near Bracketville and found a migrant with child pornography on his cell phone. This is the second bust in as many days of migrants illegally in the United States being busted by Texas troopers with child porn on their cell phones.
The Border Patrol is again facing overcrowding issues in several migrant detention facilities along the southwest border, according to a source within Customs and Border Protection. The source says the return of increasing numbers of large migrant group crossings is
New York City’s infamous “Naked Cowboy,” Robert Burck, appeared in front of the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan strumming his guitar as more than a hundred migrants lined up searching for shelter in the Big Apple. Burck, who is a well-known street busker, appeared to be taking advantage of the large media presence drawn to the hotel by the plight currently facing the migrants who have been sleeping on the sidewalks outside the hotel earlier this week.
A U.S. citizen used a fake Mexican ID to get deported by federal authorities to avoid prosecution following a human smuggling incident in December 2021. The now-convicted Texas-based smuggler is believed to have moved hundreds of migrants illegally into the country and funneled large amounts of money to cartel associates in Mexico during a two-year period, prosecutors stated.
A Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) drone operator spotted what appears to be an armed migrant smuggler guiding a group of migrants into the United States. The incident occurred in downtown Eagle Pass upstream of a floating buoy barrier that was put in place to prevent or divert migrant crossings. The footage captured by the drone operator shows the migrant smuggler carrying what the agency describes as a long gun as he guides a group of eleven migrants across the Rio Grande on Thursday.
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers arrested a Mexican national for allegedly smuggling a group of migrants across the border in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. The agents later reported finding child pornography in his cell phone. He now faces multiple criminal charges in a Texas court.
An ongoing heatwave impacting much of the nation and the swift-moving currents of the Rio Grande proved deadly for migrants attempting to enter the United States during the month of July. According to a source within Customs and Border Protection, 125 migrants perished attempting to cross the U.S. southwest border in July.
Authorities in Mexico are working to identify the bodies of two migrants reportedly found caught on a series of buoys set in parts of the Texas border. The State of Texas deployed the buoys to slow down illegal border crossings.
The Eagle Pass City Council voted unanimously to rescind an agreement with the State of Texas designating a public park as private property under the control of the Department of Public Safety. The designation allowed Texas law enforcement authorities to post “Private Property” signs within the park and facilitated the prosecution of migrants for criminal trespass.
Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador mocked Texas Governor Greg Abbott this week over the recent lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against the state seeking the removal of various border barriers including buoys and fencing.
Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt ordered 50 members of his state’s National Guard to the Texas border to support Operation Lone Star. The Guardsmen will join soldiers and airmen from 12 other states deployed to the Texas border with Mexico.
Officials cordoned off a Manhattan sidewalk to accommodate dozens of mostly Venezuelan migrants outside the Roosevelt Hotel. The video shows more than 50 migrants sleeping on cardboard outside the hotel after standing in line hoping to receive more permanent shelter.
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers found a five-year-old migrant girl near the border in Eagle Pass. The Honduran child crossed the border into Texas with three adult women who “found her” alone in Mexico.
Department of Public Safety troopers arrested a young teenage driver following a high-speed pursuit in a Texas border county. The driver now faces charges of human smuggling and evading.
International ports of entry in Eagle Pass, Texas, were closed for nearly one hour after a group of nearly 50, mostly Venezuelan migrants, attempted to force their way through one of the ports to claim asylum. According to a source within CBP, the group of migrants forced their way onto Bridge One but were repelled by CBP Office of Field Operations personnel who closed the gates and shut down all traffic on Tuesday evening.
Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol agents encountered more than 4,800 migrants during a recent five-day period. The migrant apprehensions mark a sharp increase in the sector from last month’s drop.
The House will hold a hearing examining how Americans are paying the price for President Joe Biden’s border crisis on Wednesday, July 26.
Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas will testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday, July 26, on the Biden administration’s border crisis.
Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended nearly 5,300 migrants during the past four days, according to a law enforcement source. The sector continues to lead the nation in migrant apprehensions following a recent shift from the Texas-based border sector.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott responded the Department of Justice’s threat to sue the state over the recent deployment of a floating border barrier, saying, “Texas will see you in court, Mr. President.” The response came in a letter to President Joe Biden asking that he join with Texas to stop migrants from “wagering their lives in the waters of the Rio Grande.”
House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Mark E. Green, MD (R-TN) and Chairman James Comer (R-KY) of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability are demanding answers from Customs and Border Protection officials regarding allegations of retaliation against a Border Patrol sector chief patrol agent. CBP officials reportedly relieved the chief of his command within hours of providing transcribed testimony before the committees.
The sanctuary city of Los Angeles received its fifth busload of migrants sent by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. The bus carried 44 migrants from the Texas border region to the City of Angels.
The Texas governor’s office says Operation Lone Star successfully moves migrant border crossings to other states, including the northern U.S. border with Canada. A recent U.S. Customs and Border Protection report indicates a decrease in migrant apprehensions in Texas-based border sectors and a simultaneous increase in the Tucson, Miami, and Canadian border sectors.
The U.S. Department of Justice sent a letter to Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatening legal action if the State does not remove the recently installed floating border barrier. Governor Abbott responded on Twitter, saying, “We will see you in court, Mr. President.”
A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper arrested a migrant near Eagle Pass for allegedly smuggling a group of migrants to Houston. The group included two children being smuggled to San Antonio.
Authorities in the Mexican border state of Coahuila reported at least 79 migrant deaths so far this year. The region continues to be a border crossing hotspot and one of the busiest human smuggling and human trafficking corridors in the nation.
