Migrants Apprehended in Texas-Based Border Sectors in 2 Years Exceeds Houston Population
Border Patrol agents in the five Texas-based Border Patrol sectors apprehended more than 2.6 million migrants during the past two fiscal years. The number of migrants apprehended during this period exceeds the city of Houston’s population by more than 300,000 people.
Border Patrol agents assigned to the Rio Grande Valley, Laredo, Del Rio, Big Bend, and El Paso Sectors apprehended 1,216,501 migrants during the recently ended Fiscal Year 23. One year earlier, agents in these Texas-based border sectors apprehended 1,395,690 migrants.
This brings the total number of migrants apprehended to 2,612,191 during the past two fiscal years, according to the CBP Nationwide Encounters Report. This exceeds the population of the city of Houston (2,302,878) by more than 309,000 people — slightly less than the city of Corpus Christi.
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Since President Joe Biden took office in January 2021, agents in the five Texas-based border sectors apprehended more than 3,576,000 migrants who crossed between ports of entry. This exceeds the combined population of the counties of Bexar (San Antonio) and Travis (Austin) by more than 250,000 people.
Of the 1.2 million migrants apprehended last year in the Texas-based border sectors, more than half (652,000) came from Mexico and the Northern Triangle countries of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras. Another 195,811 came from Venezuela, according to the report. Chinese migrants accounted for nearly 8,000 of the total.
The surge of migrants into the Lone Star State continues in FY24. Just last week, Breitbart Texas’ Randy Clark reported the apprehension of more than 1,800 migrants in the Del Rio Sector in less than 24 hours.
Even more concerning is the number of what Border Patrol calls “Special Interest Aliens.” These are migrants from nations with known ties to terrorism. During the second week of October, Del Rio Sector agents apprehended six Iranian nationals, three Lebanese nationals, one Egyptian national, and one Saudi Arabian national who made landfall in the Eagle Pass area of operations.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
Texas Legislature Passes 2 Bills Criminalizing Illegal Migrant Entry into State
The Texas Legislature passed two separate bills criminalizing the illegal entry of migrants into the state. The bill passed by the House also criminalizes the unlawful presence of a foreign national in Texas. Neither bill has passed both chambers.
The Texas House of Representatives passed House Bill 4 early Thursday morning by a vote of 84-60. The bill creates a criminal offense of “illegal entry into or illegal presence in this state by a person who is an alien.”
The bill, if passed by the Texas Senate and signed by Governor Greg Abbott would make the act of attempting to enter the state from a foreign country at a place other than a legal port of entry a Class B misdemeanor. The offense would be punishable by up to six months in jail. A subsequent offense would be classified as a State Jail Felony.
The bill provides a law enforcement officer with an alternative to arrest. The officer may transport the migrant to a port of entry and order the migrant to “return to the foreign nation.” Failure to comply with the officer’s order would constitute a separate offense. This offense is classified as a 2nd Degree Felony.
House Bill 4 will be passed on to the Texas Senate for consideration.
RELATED ARTICLES:
- Two Million Migrants Apprehended at Southwest Border for 2nd Straight Year
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- Exclusive: 61K ‘Special Interest Aliens’ Entered U.S. through Biden’s Open Border in 2023, Says DHS
- Exclusive: 24K Chinese Migrants Apprehended at Southwest Border in FY 2023
- Watch: Disillusioned Venezuelan Migrant Wants to Go Home
Earlier this month, the Texas Senate passed SB11, which also makes illegal entry into Texas a Class A misdemeanor. The bill passed the Senate with a vote of 19-12 but was left pending in the House State Affairs committee.
The Senate bill does not contain a provision for removal of the migrant as described in the House bill.
Opponents of both bills claim they are unconstitutional as the federal government has jurisdiction over immigration law, the Texas Tribune reported.
Governor Abbott made immigration and border security legislation a priority for the third special session.
On Wednesday night, the House passed a bill providing more than $1 billion for building additional border barriers. A second bill passed on Wednesday which would increase the penalty for human smugglers.
During the recently ended FY23, more than two million migrants were apprehended after crossing the southwest border between ports of entry, Breitbart Texas reported. More than 1.2 million of these migrants crossed into the five Texas-based Border Patrol sectors.
Bob Price is the Breitbart Texas-Border team’s associate editor and senior news contributor. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
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