Human smugglers moved 147 migrants, including children, across the Rio Grande into Texas as Tropical Storm Harold made landfall on Tuesday morning. The smugglers abandoned the migrants in an open field without cover in the pouring rain and tropical force winds, according to Texas Department of Public Safety officials.
Texas DPS spokesman, Lieutenant Chris Olivarez, posted a video showing a group of 147 migrants being held in the rain in Starr County before sunrise on Tuesday. The wind and heavy rain from the early impact of Tropical Storm Harold is evident in the video.
Until there are consequences & prevention of unlawful entries between the ports of entry, criminal smuggling organizations will continue to exploit & profit off of mass illegal immigration. #RGV: This morning, criminal smugglers guided 147 illegal immigrants across the Rio… pic.twitter.com/4F9FTPtgDw
— Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez) August 22, 2023
Olivarez reported the human smugglers guided 147 migrants across the Rio Grande into Starr County. “The smugglers left the immigrants, including children, in an open field w/o cover.”
Texas DPS troopers, deployed under Operation Lone Star, responded to the scene and held the migrants until Border Patrol agents arrived.
Olivarez told Breitbart Texas that by the time the troopers arrived, the tropical winds were more than 20 miles per hour.
The video shows migrant families comforting very young children in the downpour. The migrants were identified as citizens of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
RELATED ARTICLES:
“Until there are consequences & prevention of unlawful entries between the ports of entry, criminal smuggling organizations will continue to exploit & profit off of mass illegal immigration,” Lt. Olivarez stated.
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.