Border Patrol agents apprehend foreign nationals illegally entering U.S. from multiple countries

By Bethany Blankley | The Center Square

While most Americans were legally traveling to visit relatives and celebrate Thanksgiving enjoying a few days off of work, Border Patrol agents were hard at work in Texas inundated with illegal travelers arriving at the U.S. southern border.

Border Patrol agents assigned to Del Rio Sector in Texas, for example, arrested people coming from African and former Soviet countries over Thanksgiving, as well as known sex offenders from Mexico and Nicaragua.

From Nov. 23-27, agents apprehended six Eritrean nationals who traveled from the northeast African country to the southern U.S. after the Biden administration halted immigration laws established by Congress.

They apprehended two men from Syria on Nov. 23, and one man from Lebanon on Nov. 26, and one man from Tajikistan on the 27th, and one man from Uzbekistan.

“We encounter individuals from all over the world attempting to illegally enter our country,” Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Jason D. Owens said in a statement, emphasizing how hard Border Patrol agents are working.

“Our agents are focused and work hard to ensure that we detect, arrest, and identify anyone that enters our country in order to maintain safety of our communities,” he said.

Owens also tweeted a photo of individuals apprehended primarily from Central America, saying, “A typical day at the office in the Del Rio Sector … A group of 107 migrants was encountered yesterday in Eagle Pass, consisting of 103 Venezuelans, 3 Colombians, and 1 Nicaraguan national. Del Rio Sector continues to see over 1,000 encounters per day!”

Also over Thanksgiving, Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents apprehended convicted sex offenders near Carrizo Springs, Eagle Pass, and Brackettville, Texas.

On Nov. 25 in Carrizo Springs, agents caught and identified a Mexican national who was previously convicted in Texas of injury to a child with intent of bodily injury and sentenced to three years confinement in 2013. The man was deported in June 2019 only to return and get caught again by Border Patrol.

On Nov. 26, agents caught and identified a Nicaraguan man in Eagle Pass, who had been convicted in 2016 of non-responsive cruelty to a juvenile in Louisiana and sentenced to eight years of hard labor. His sentence was later suspended and he was deported in October 2019 – only to return to the U.S. and attempt to enter illegally again.

On Nov. 27, agents identified a Mexican member of the Paisa Gang in Brackettville. In 2001, in California, he had been convicted of sex with a minor under the age of 16 and sentenced to two years in prison. He was also convicted of driving without a license and driving under the influence in 2006 and sentenced to three years’ probation.

In 2008, he was convicted of inflicting corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant, driving while license suspended, and driving under the influence. He was sentenced to three years’ probation and 45 days in jail. He was last deported in August 2021 only to reenter the U.S. illegally again.

In all of FY2021, from Oct. 1, 2020, to Sept. 30, 2021, Del Rio Sector agents encountered people entering the U.S. illegally from 106 countries.

Most recently, in October 2021, Del Rio Sector agents encountered 28,111 foreign nationals entering the U.S. illegally coming from more than 50 countries.

November numbers are not yet available.