Illegal Migrant Rescues and Apprehensions Continue To Rise In The RGV

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

EDINBURG - (News Release) Rio Grande Valley Sector Border Patrol (RGV) agents and local law enforcement partners disrupted four human smuggling events, that resulted in fifty arrests. In one event, ten migrants were rescued.

Just after noon on June 20, Corpus Christi Border Patrol Station (CCT) agents along with Nueces County Precinct 5 officers, and both the Robstown and Annaville Fire Departments responded to a 911 call from a migrant trapped in a freight train. The caller also advised they were suffering from dehydration, and some were losing consciousness.  A total of ten migrants were located in a locked railway car near Robstown and were transported to medical facilities for evaluation and treatment before being transported to the Border Patrol station for processing. After interviewing the rescued migrants, agents returned to the location and located an improvised tool used to forcibly open grain hopper cars from the outside. Additionally that morning, agents apprehended 14 other migrants nearby suspected of using the train system for transportation.

Later that evening, Rio Grande City Border Patrol Station agents were led on a vehicle pursuit by a Honda Odyssey after agents observed numerous subjects load into the vehicle near Escobares. The vehicle came to a stop in an alleyway where the driver and a passenger fled. Agents apprehended 18 migrants from the vehicle. The driver and passenger were not located.

On June 18, Harlingen Border Patrol Station agents responded to a request for assistance from the Port Mansfield Police Department (PMPD). Officers encountered five subjects on a small boat near the shore and suspected a migrant smuggling event. Agents interviewed the subjects and transported two migrants from Guatemala and Mexico to the station. PMPD retained custody of three U.S. citizens.

Also on June 18, RGV agents observed a Chevrolet and a Dodge pickup truck dropping off subjects on FM 755 near Linn. As agents approached, the Dodge pickup truck was left abandoned, and the Chevrolet drove off. The Chevrolet truck was encountered shortly after and led agents on a vehicle pursuit before driving through a ranch gate, where the driver bailed out. With the assistance of air assets, agents apprehended 22 migrants unlawfully present in the U.S. Both vehicles were seized. The drivers were not located.

All subjects were processed accordingly.