HIDALGO COUNTY, Texas — Groups of migrants are crossing the U.S./Mexico border in large numbers, a statement by U.S. Customs and Border Protection said.
In recent days, Rio Grande Valley Sector (RGV) Border Patrol agents found 1,171 migrants in eight large groups in Starr and Hidalgo Counties and disrupted three human smuggling events, the statement said.
The groups were made up of 638 family members, 340 unaccompanied children, and 193 single adults. The migrants were from Cuba, Asia, and various Central and South American countries, officials said.
RGV agents were told about a stash house in Mission on June 29, according to the statement. Working with the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office, 31 migrants illegally in the country were found in the house. The caretaker, a Mexican citizen, was identified and apprehended.
On June 30, Rio Grande City Border Patrol Station agents patrolling near Roma found footprints of a small group of people leading away from the Rio Grande. Agents followed the tracks to a house and asked for help from the Roma Police Department, the statement said. Inside the house, they found 11 people, who were all found to be in the United States illegally. The people, from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Mexico, were placed under arrest without incident. Agents also identified and apprehended the caretaker, a U.S. citizen.
That same day, McAllen Border Patrol Station agents saw a Chevrolet Avalanche loading up suspected migrants in Mission. An Air and Marine Operations asset from the McAllen Air Branch kept an eye on the vehicle as it traveled northbound until the vehicle came to as stop and the occupants bailed out, the statement said. Agents arrested seven migrants unlawfully present in the U.S.
The driver was not located.
Earlier this week, more than 50 migrants died while being smuggled in a semi-truck which was found near San Antonio.
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