EAGLE PASS, Texas — Texas Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol troopers interdicted a large group of migrants shortly after they waded across the shallow Rio Grande north of Eagle Pass on Wednesday. In all, 124 migrants from a host of different countries were arrested by the troopers in a surprising twist to the election-year slowdown along the Texas border.
Some in the group will face criminal prosecution by state authorities for trespassing violations. According to a source within CBP, the others will likely be released to pursue asylum claims.
The large migrant group crossed the Rio Grande late in the afternoon near the small community of Normandy, Texas, roughly 16 miles north of Eagle Pass. As reported by Breitbart, Texas, the area was once notorious for the frequency of large migrant crossings but has since slowed after increased election-year enforcement efforts in Mexico significantly slowed the flow of migrants arriving at the United States border.
According to a spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety Highway Patrol, one migrant within the group was an adult female Iranian national. The Iranian woman, Masoumeh Fooladlou, was referred to the department’s intelligence specialists for further vetting as she falls within the category of Special Interest Migrant under DHS standards.
According to the spokesperson, 27 migrants within the group from Brazil, Peru, Honduras, Colombia, and Ecuador were taken to the state’s Val Verde Processing Center in Del Rio and will face prosecution for criminal trespass. The remainder of the migrants, which included family unit migrants and 22 unaccompanied children, were turned over to the Border Patrol for processing and placement in removal proceedings.
According to a source within CBP, the unaccompanied migrant children will be processed and referred to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), who will find sponsors within the United States to care for the children while they pursue asylum claims. The Border Patrol has apprehended more than 519,000 unaccompanied migrant children under the Biden-Harris administration.
The CBP source, not authorized to speak to the media, says some of the migrants in the group arrested on Wednesday will likely be released to a local non-government shelter to pursue asylum claims within the United States. Since October, more than 237,000 migrants have been arrested after entering by the Border Patrol in the Del Rio Sector, which includes Normandy.
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 X (formerly Twitter) @RandyClarkBBTX.
