Photo: John Moore/Getty Images
In different actions and in close collaboration with the Texas Police, Border Patrol agents found four houses where there were 171 undocumented immigrants crammed togetherwho were expelled under Title 42.
At least three implicated were detained to be prosecuted for human smuggling, indicated the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) office, which claims to have found 95 homes in El Paso, Texas, where have found more than 1,200 migrants so far in fiscal year 2023.
“I am grateful for the support and partnerships from our community and local law enforcement,” said El Paso Border Patrol Acting Chief Peter Jaquez. “Our multi-tiered enforcement strategy and whole-of-government approach, in collaboration with our law enforcement partners, have been crucial to our border security mission.”
In one of the recent cases, 50 migrants from Guatemala, Mexico and El Salvador They were found in the garage of a home near Fairbanks Drive and Highway 54 in El Paso.
“All the migrants were found to be in good health despite being housed in deplorable conditions,” the report states.
Two people of Mexican origin were arrested for that case on February 26, who face federal charges.
Immigration agents assigned to the Anti-Smuggling Unit of the El Paso Border Patrol Station (ASU) are collaborating with the Texas Department of Public Safety, authorities acknowledged.
In another case, which occurred on February 28, immigration agents received a report from the Texas Police about a property near Pershing Drive and Highway 54, where they located 25 immigrants from Mexico, Ecuador and Colombiaincluding an unaccompanied Mexican minor from Mexico.
On March 1, 78 immigrants were found overcrowded inside a small house in downtown El Paso. These people were from Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico and El Salvador, including three unaccompanied minors from Guatemala.
In this case, it was possible to arrest a person facing federal crimes for human smuggling.
On March 2, another joint investigation led to the arrest of 18 immigrants from Mexico, Ecuador, Honduras and Guatemala, who were located inside this hideout house in Horizon, Texas.
“All migrants subject to Title 42 were expelled to Mexico and others transported to the Central Processing Center for Title 8 processing,” CBP said. Title 8 allows evaluating asylum cases, but also expedited deportations.
One of the men, originally from Ecuador, had a prior conviction for second-degree rape of a New York boy in 2014. He will face charges of illegal reentry into the US, which could carry up to 20 years in prison. .
Title 42 will be applied in May, according to the president’s government Joe Bidenafter arguments presented in the Supreme Court.
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