Border Patrol arrests of criminal illegal immigrants skyrocket 900% in sector of Texas

There has been a massive spike in arrests of illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds in the Laredo Sector of Texas, which includes gang members and sex offenders.

Border Patrol agents in the Laredo Sector arrested nearly 760 criminal illegal immigrants since the beginning of this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, 2020, according to a news release from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Compared to the same time period the year before, Border Patrol only arrested 60 criminal illegal immigrants in the Laredo Sector — an alarming increase of more than 900%.

On Wednesday, Laredo Sector Border Patrol agents and the Laredo Police Department shut down three stash houses and apprehended 182 illegal immigrants in the city of Laredo, according to a CBP news release. The migrants who were arrested originated from Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, El Salvador, and Honduras.

"The identification and interdiction of these stash houses and the apprehension of over 180 non-citizens in less than two hours highlights the challenges that our agents and law enforcement partners face on a daily basis," Chief Patrol Agent Matthew Hudak said. "These numbers also illustrate the potential risk to our communities from this criminal activity and those perpetrating it."

Also on Wednesday, the CBP announced that it had two successful drug busts at the Laredo Juarez-Lincoln Port of Entry, where Border Patrol agents seized 167 pounds of methamphetamine and 21 pounds of cocaine worth over $3.5 million in street value.

"In an effort to secure our nation's borders, as these narcotics seizures clearly illustrate, CBP has implemented enforcement strategies that have furthered the disruption of dangerous drugs entering the country," Acting Laredo Port Director Eugene Crawford said.

Border Patrol seizures of illegal drugs have spiked in recent months, especially with fentanyl, which CBP agents have confiscated more of the deadly drug in the fiscal year 2021 than all of the fiscal year 2020.

Meanwhile, in the neighboring Del Rio Sector, which is also in Texas on the southern border, arrests of convicted sex offenders have skyrocketed during the current border crisis. Border Patrol arrests of convicted sex offenders in the Del Rio Sector are up a whopping 3,166% compared to the same timeframe last fiscal year. There were 95 arrested, including 10 in one week — between May 17 and 24.

"The convictions of those apprehended include forcible sexual assault, sexual assault of a child under 14, sexual conduct with a person under 13, statutory rape, second-degree sexual assault of a child, and lewd and lascivious acts with a child," according to Fox News.

"The majority of these criminals were apprehended in our sector's most remote areas, attempting to avoid detection by crossing far from populated areas," Del Rio Sector Chief Patrol Agent Austin Skero said in a statement. "Our agents' sign cutting and tracking skills were instrumental in capturing these criminals, preventing them from infiltrating our communities."