US Border: Migrant Smuggling Reports Up - More Groups Arrested
But no post-election "migrant rush" some feared
While a feared post-election "migrant rush" of the border has not materialized, news on the human-smuggling front has picked up in recent days as more try to enter the country illegally ahead of a change in US Presidential administrations and an expected hardening of immigration policy and more aggressive immigration enforcement.
An inventive migrant smuggling scheme was interrupted by Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Highway Patrol Officers after they stopped a semi-truck on Interstate 35 on Friday, November 8, 2024, in Webb County (near Laredo).
The officers discovered the driver was attempting to smuggle two men from Mexico into the state inside an empty gas tank attached to his truck.
The trucker was arrested and faces two charges of human smuggling.
Elsewhere in Texas, DPS Troopers broke up another smuggling attempt in Hidalgo County after a vehicle chase through the Rio Grande Valley last week.
Six migrants were taken into custody - all wearing wristbands indicating that they had paid a Mexican cartel to illegally cross the Rio Grande and for transport away from the Texas border.
Each plastic wristband has a specific meaning according to a color code: Some of the most common colors include red, blue, green, and white. The colors often indicate the number of times a migrant has tried to cross the border, their payment status, or the smuggling group they are affiliated with.
"Bracelets are different colors because aliens get three chances to cross successfully for one price.” Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar interviewed by BorderReport.com
According to Laredo Congressman Henry Cuellar, it works like this: First-time crossers get a white bracelet. Migrants attempting to cross a third and final time get purple wristbands. Some Border Patrol officers liken the system the cartels have devised to that of a waterpark.
Other recent human smuggling arrests reported by law enforcement agencies along the border follow several vehicle stops by Border Patrol Agents on Interstate 40 in Arizona:
Eight Guatemalans were taken into custody during one traffic stop last week near Kingman.
Fourteen more migrants from Mexico and Guatemala were also apprehended by Border Patrol Agents last week during three other traffic stops within four hours of each other elsewhere along the same Arizona highway.
Although the feared "migrant rush" has not happened these recent reported arrests suggest plenty of human smuggling activity is underway along the border as a new administration prepares to assume office in Washington.
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