Del Rio Sector Border Patrol agents arrested 54 convicted sex offenders who illegally crossed the border between ports of entry this fiscal year. Many of these migrants are apprehended while trying to avoid detection in areas where rising numbers of unaccompanied migrant children are found.
Despite experiencing a slowing of migrant traffic in Texas in recent months, Border Patrol agents are still encountering migrants who seek to escape arrest by traversing desolate ranches. Hidden in some of the groups are those migrants who face stiff penalties for returning to the United States after committing a serious criminal offense. In the Del Rio Sector of the Border Patrol, the agency says 54 convicted sex offenders have been nabbed since the new fiscal year began on October 1.
4/3: USBP agents in Del Rio, TX arrested 2 sex offenders w/prior felony convictions to include sexual assault of a child, and sexual assault. They will now face criminal prosecution and removal from the country. pic.twitter.com/v5Iv31FAJ7
— Chief Jason Owens (@USBPChief) April 8, 2024
Alarmingly, according to the Border Patrol, in the Del Rio Sector, the apprehension of unaccompanied migrant children is also on the rise. More than 7,500 unaccompanied migrant children have been found crossing the border in the same region where convicted sex offenders have been located. The unaccompanied migrant children are sometimes found on the same remote ranches used by human smugglers as a corridor to avoid detection and apprehension by the Border Patrol.
U.S. Border Patrol/Del Rio Sector
According to a source within the Border Patrol, the sex offenses include several state crimes the migrants have been convicted of. Those can include convictions for child rape, lewd and lascivious acts with a child, Aggravated Sex Assault of a Child, Rape, Statutory Rape, and other associated sex crimes.
The source told Breitbart Texas the slowdown in migrant surrenders because of increased law enforcement operations in Mexico helped put Border Patrol agents back in the field. “Being out on patrol in these remote ranches gives us some idea of what we have been missing as we have been locked away processing give-ups. It’s scary to wonder how many of these criminals managed to get away from us in the last three years,” the source added.
One danger that worries the source is the number of children discovered along the banks of the Rio Grande and within migrant groups trying to conceal themselves as they move into the interior of the United States. In one case in late February, Border Patrol agents found several small children near Carrizo Springs, Texas, more than a dozen miles from the border. The small children were placed on horseback and taken to awaiting transport units several miles away. The source says that scares him as the children have no protection in such isolated areas, and it is something the agents see every day.
Sex offenders arrested in the same area as unaccompanied migrant children (U.S. Border Patrol/Del Rio Sector)
The source says the positive side of the story is the stiff penalties the arrested sex offenders will face after being caught trying to re-enter the country illegally. “Considered aggravated felons, these guys can face up to 20 years in prison just for illegally re-entering the United States. We won’t be seeing any of them again anytime soon,” the source says.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.
