U.S. Border Patrol agents found more than 140 illegal immigrants during raids of two separate smuggling stash houses in Texas on April 2.
Based on a tip, U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Ysleta Station encountered the first group during the early hours in El Paso. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a statement that when agents arrived, they located 51 illegal immigrants inside the residence.
The illegal immigrants were from Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, and were found to be in good health, officials said. Two of the individuals, who are Mexican nationals, were identified by agents as the caretakers of the residence. Both will face federal charges for the scheme.
The second group was found around noon when Ysleta agents, along with the members of the Texas Department of Public Safety and Customs, encountered 94 smuggled immigrants inside a second stash house in El Paso. Interviews conducted at the first site led agents to the second property.
Despite being housed in deplorable conditions, the illegal immigrants, who were from Guatemala, Mexico, and Ecuador, were found to be in good health, according to officials said.
“A search of the home resulted in a total of 95 migrants, 74 males and 19 females, including 2 minors,” Texas DPS spokesman Lt. Christopher Olivarez said in a statement.
They were all processed under Title 42 or Title 8 authority, which governs U.S. immigration law.
“Stash house busts!” U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Border Patrol for the El Paso Sector wrote on Facebook.
El Paso Sector CBP agents have uncovered more than 130 stash houses in the region, with more than 1,800 illegal immigrants in the 2023 fiscal year to date, authorities noted.
House GOP Want Mayorkas’s Pay Withheld
In outcry over the handling of the illegal immigration crisis at the U.S. southern border, House Republicans are seeking to have Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’s pay withheld.The March 29 letter stated that Mayorkas shouldn’t be paid because he hasn’t done his job and isn’t serving and protecting the American people.
“As you begin drafting the Homeland Security Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2024, we request that you decrease Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Nicholas Mayorkas’ salary to $0 for willfully ignoring his oath to enforce our border security and immigration laws,” the letter states.
The letter goes on to state that the DHS chief is responsible for safeguarding the nation’s borders from unauthorized entries and individuals who pose a threat to public safety and national security.
“In addition, the Secretary is required to maintain operational control and prevent narcotics and other contraband from entering the country,” it continues. “Secretary Mayorkas is actively failing to attain and maintain control of the southern border by weakening our security apparatus and implementing policies attracting record-breaking numbers of illegal migrants and bad actors seeking to be released into the United States.”
The letter was signed by Reps. Chip Roy (R-Texas), Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.), Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo.), Eric Burlison (R-Mo.), Josh Brecheen (R-Okla.), Daniel Webster (R-Fla.), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), Bob Good (R-Va.), Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), Eli Crane (R-Ariz.), and Scott Perry (R-Pa.).
Republicans are also seeking to impeach Mayorkas, whom they hold responsible for the record-high illegal immigration crisis and the influx of drugs into the country during the Biden presidency.
