Texas Border: Migrant Caravan From Honduras Reaches 4000 Participants
This is our home, and to most Texans, the border isn’t a political issue or a tool to use against another political party; this is a safety and security issue, for us, our children, families, friends and our local and national law enforcement…
by Melissa Jewett, Publisher
NOTE: Due to the lack of information that is currently available from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, we reached out to the the CBP El Paso Office of Field Operations (OFO) and spoke with Roger Maier, Public Relations Specialist. “As I am sure you have seen, we are heavily involved in caravan planning ops right now,” said Maier. “I am sure the situation is similar at our other locations.”
Below you will find the latest information available for reported drug smuggling, human trafficking and illegal crossings that have occurred on the Texas border and ports over the week of October 31 – November 7, 2018.
It has been published by many news outlets around the country that the criminal activity on our Texas-Mexico border has been consistently dropping over the last couple of years, and Americans and Texans have been given inconsistent information on what is occurring on our border.
Our U.S. border issues are complex, and they affect all Texans. This is our home, and to most Texans, the border isn’t a political issue or a tool to use against another political party; this is a safety and security issue for us, our children, families, friends and our local and national law enforcement.
As you read below, we hope the information provided will help all Texans to better understand the problems happening on our southern border and what we need to do to repair our current immigration laws and policies that stem from our lawmakers in D.C.
However, to better understand if these are real problems or just political bloviation concerning our southern border with drug smuggling, human trafficking of children and adults, unaccompanied children and illegal immigrant crossings that include gang members and many from terrorist countries, we need the real numbers, facts and statistics.
Texas isn’t the only state that shares a border with Mexico. Therefore, as you read our weekly report below, remember this information is only what is occurring on the Texas-Mexico border and Texas ports.
This information has been gathered and compiled directly from information given to us by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), which is under the purview of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
As for the accuracy of the information we are providing to you, we can only decipher the information that is released to us. Therefore, the number of incidents, arrests, types of narcotics, weight or the street value of said narcotics is considered the minimum amount.
We give the totals of illegal crossing arrests, including their nationality, drug seizures including weight and “street value” totals, current charges or convictions of those apprehended and other items to help all of us make educated decisions. Additionally, we include links to our other weekly border stories.
All people apprehended by the Border Patrol undergo criminal history checks using biometrics to ensure their criminal histories are positively identified. To report suspicious activity such as alien and/or drug smuggling, contact their website at http://www.cbp.gov. Or follow them on Twitter at @CBPRGV.
The public is encouraged to take a stand against crime in their communities and to help save lives by reporting suspicious activity at 1-800-863-9382.
Read related border coverage:
- Oct. 18, 2018: Texas Border Sector CBP Officers Apprehend 390, Gang Members, Child Sex Offenders And Seize $1.7 Million In Drugs
- Oct. 11, 2018: CBP Apprehend Child Molester, MS-13 Gang Members And Seize $2.6M In Drugs On Texas Border
NOTE: The totals below for arrests, apprehensions, seizures, drugs, etc. are ONLY what is reported by Customs & Border Protection to us. There are multiple incidents that happen everyday on all U.S. borders that aren’t reported. Corridor News is not responsible for what is NOT reported or incorrectly reported.
• Week of Oct. 31 – Nov. 7, 2018 •
Texas Border Reported Arrests/Apprehensions
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Reported Arrests/Apprehensions from the following counties;
• El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and USC (U.S. Citizens)
• Arrests/Apprehensions Weekly Total: 20+ (“+”: see note below)
Of those above there were…
• 1 USC (U.S. Citizen(s))
• 1+ UAC (Unaccompanied Alien Children)
• 1+ Individuals apprehended with active criminal charge(s), warrant(s) or conviction(s)
• 2+ Vehicle(s) Seized
• Additional Seizures: Weapons, Drugs, Currency — totals not given
Warrants and/or Prior Criminal Convictions•
- Outstanding Warrant:1
• U.S. Citizen – Austin, Texas – Charged with sexually assaulting a female family member in April 2016 (a second-degree felony for child sexual assault.
*Note: “+”; U.S. Customs and Border Patrol did not list exact or specific totals or countries on some reported incidents.
Texas Border Weekly Narcotic Seizures & Estimated Street Price
NOTE: The totals below are an estimate. U.S. dollar and pounds used.
• 23.41 lbs
• $200,000
• Total Weight of Narcotics: 23.41 lbs.
• Estimated Street Value of Narcotics: $200,000
October Migrant Caravan Grows To 4000, Receives Humanitarian Help In Mexico City
The live map above tracks the current location of the migrant caravan that left San Pedro Sula, Honduras on October 13 as reports are available.
Migrants from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador gathered on 12 October to meet at San Pedro Sula, the second largest city in Honduras. The caravan began the next day, intending to reach the United States. According to multiple reports, their goal is to flee the poverty in their home countries.
The caravan began with about 160 migrants but quickly gathered over 500 participants as it marched through Honduras.
Bartolo Fuentes, a former Honduran congressman and one of the march coordinators, stated that the goal of the caravan was to find safety in numbers as it traveled north.
The same day it left, American Vice President Mike Pence urged the presidents of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala to persuade their citizens to stay home.
Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández advised his citizens to return home and to “not let yourselves be used for political purposes.”
Pueblo Sin Fronteras did not organize the October caravan but expressed its solidarity with it. Irineo Mujico, the director of Pueblo Sin Fronteras, himself did not recommend another caravan to the United States, instead advising its members to seek asylum in Mexico.
Vice President Pence in an interview with Fox News stated that, “What the president of Honduras told me is that the caravan was organized by leftist organizations, political activists within Honduras, and he said it was being funded by outside groups, and even from Venezuela … So the American people, I think, see through this—they understand this is not a spontaneous caravan of vulnerable people.”
A week before the 2018 midterm elections, the US Government sent 5,200 active-duty soldiers to the US-Mexico border to “harden” it with the 2,100 National Guard troops already present.
According to a report by Deborah Bonello in Mexico City on November 6, the size of the caravan around 4000 and has been given humanitarian help. There have been numerous members “including children, [that] have gone missing from the group.”
The missing migrants are suspected of being kidnapped “having fallen prey to criminal gangs, who abduct migrants in order to extort their family members,” and “allegedly handed over to the Zetas gang.”
The map above tracks the current location of the migrant caravan that left San Pedro Sula, Honduras on October 13 as reports are available. Source: Visit the live map at: Center for Immigration Studies
Story sources: The Telegraph, Wikipedia, Fox News and USA Today
Border Wall Construction Project to Begin in Texas
WASHINGTON – U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), has awarded a contract to construct approximately six miles of levee wall system in the U.S. Border Patrol’s (USBP) Rio Grande Valley (RGV) Sector, which was funded in CBP’s Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 appropriation.
The contract for this project, referred to by CBP as RGV-03, awarded on October 31, 2018 to Slsco Ltd in the amount of $145 Million for construction. Construction is scheduled to begin in February 2019.
The RGV-03 project includes the construction and installation of tactical infrastructure including a reinforced concrete levee wall to the height of the existing levee, 18 feet tall steel bollards installed on top of the concrete wall, and vegetation removal along a 150 foot enforcement zone throughout the approximately six miles of levee wall system.
The enforcement zone will also include detection technology, lighting, video surveillance, and an all-weather patrol road parallel to the levee wall. This project lies within the McAllen Station area of responsibility in Hidalgo County, Texas.
The RGV Sector remains an area of high illegal cross border activity. In FY 2017, USBP apprehended over 137,000 illegal aliens, and seized approximately 260,000 pounds of marijuana and approximately 1,192 pounds of cocaine in the RGV Sector.
Once constructed, this levee wall system will serve as a persistent impediment to transnational criminal organizations, while still allowing river access for property owners, other federal/state/local officials, local emergency responders, and USBP.
CBP continues to implement President Trump’s Executive Order 13767 – also known as Border Security and Immigration Enforcement Improvements – and continues to take steps to expeditiously plan, design, and construct a physical wall using appropriate materials and technology to most effectively achieve complete operational control of the southern border.
Laredo Sector Border Patrol Apprehends 17 Illegal Aliens East of Hebbronville, Texas
LAREDO, Texas – U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Hebbronville Station apprehended 17 illegal aliens in the brush east of Hebbronville, Texas.
On the morning of November 6, agents encountered a vehicle at the intersection of County Roads 254 and 256. Before the agents could make contact, the driver of the vehicle pulled over and absconded. The agents approached the vehicle and found no other passengers.
A search of the area resulted in the agents locating a possible drop-off point with foot sign leading into the brush. The agents followed the foot sign until they found and arrested 17 illegal aliens.
The nationalities of the aliens were two from El Salvador, two from Mexico, and 13 from Guatemala, to include an unaccompanied juvenile.
The driver was not located. The vehicle was seized by U.S. Border Patrol.
CBP Field Operations at Anzalduas International Bridge Arrests Man Wanted on Sexual Assault Charges
A CBP officer conducts a primary vehicle examination at Hidalgo International Bridge. | Photo by U.S. Customs and Border ProtectionANZALDUAS, Texas—U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations (OFO) at the Anzalduas International Bridge arrested an Austin, Texas man wanted on child sexual assault charges from that same city.
“This is the second person wanted on this type of charge that we have intercepted at our local international bridges within the last few days,” said Port Director David Gonzalez, Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry. “Our ability to query everyone seeking entry into the United States allows us to identify people that have issues with CBP or any other law enforcement agency.”
CBP officers working at the Anzalduas-Reynosa International Bridge on Nov. 3, encountered Rogelio Juarez, a 46-year-old man from Austin as he arrived from Mexico in a white 2016 Chevy Silverado.
Initial primary queries indicated that he was a possible match to an arrest warrant and secondary checks utilizing biometric verification through CBP databases confirmed his identity and active arrest warrant from the Austin Police Department, a second-degree felony for child sexual assault.
Juarez is accused of sexually assaulting a female family member in April 2016, who was then 15-years-old.
CBP OFO arrested Juarez who was then turned over to the custody of the Mission Police Department who in turn booked him at the Hidalgo County Jail to await extradition proceedings.
Criminal charges are merely allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
CBP Field Operations at Pharr International Bridge Seizes Close to $200K in Cocaine
PHARR, Texas—U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations (OFO) at the Pharr International Bridge arrested two Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico residents in connection to a failed cocaine smuggling attempt worth $180,500.
“I commend our officers for their diligence and excellent work ethic in detecting narcotics at all our border crossings,” said Port Director David Gonzalez, Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry. “Attempting to smuggle drugs in small quantities illustrates the efforts by drug smuggling organizations to introduce these illicit drugs and further demonstrates our frontline officers’ ability to stay on top of these smuggling trends.”
The incident occurred Thursday afternoon, Nov. 1, 2018 after a grey 2010 Ford Flex arrived at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge.
After presenting their Mexican border-crossing cards, a CBP officer referred the vehicle and both female occupants, a 58-year-old and a 37-year-old, both Mexican citizens, for further inspection.
During the course of the secondary examination, and with the assistance of a canine team, officers discovered packages of alleged cocaine concealed on both females’ bodies. Each woman had five packages of alleged cocaine weighing 11.64 pounds (5.28 kg.) and 11.77 pounds (5.34 kg.), respectively.
CBP OFO seized the vehicle and arrested both women, who were subsequently turned over to the custody of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents for further investigation.
