Immigration

Texas Authorities Stop Smugglers From Flying Charter Plane Of Illegal Migrants To Houston

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The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) stopped two suspected smugglers Wednesday from flying a charter plane containing over a dozen illegal migrants from the border to Houston, Texas.

A DPS pilot thwarted the alleged smuggling attempt in Edinburg, Texas, which is along the border, with the arrests of two alleged human smugglers, according to a Thursday tweet posted by the DPS South Texas. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) authorities responded to the event and two vehicle chases ensued, where a DPS vehicle was struck.

.@TxDPS Pilot disrupted a human smuggling attempt by plane at a private airport in Edinburg. 2 human smugglers attempted to smuggle 13 illegal immigrants from the Dominican Republic & El Salvador by chartering a plane to Houston. The smugglers were arrested. #OperationLoneStar pic.twitter.com/GTVeBf8zva

— TxDPS – South Texas Region (@TxDPSSouth) September 1, 2022

The alleged smugglers were attempting to transport 13 illegal migrants from the Dominican Republic and El Salvador, according to the tweet.

CBP authorities have encountered over 1,900.000 migrants at the southern border between October and July, according to agency statistics. In December 2021, a small airplane crashed in Presidio, Texas, where a pilot attempted to smuggle illegal migrants, according to KFOX14.

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021 to surge state resources, including DPS authorities to the border amid the surge in illegal migrant encounters.

“The crisis at our southern border continues to escalate because of Biden Administration policies that refuse to secure the border and invite illegal immigration. Texas supports legal immigration but will not be an accomplice to the open border policies that cause, rather than prevent, a humanitarian crisis in our state and endanger the lives of Texans,” Abbott said at the time.