Don’t expect to see caravans of thousands of people arriving at the Texas border at the same time as migrants race against time to reach the United States before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January.
Instead, the cartels have decided to introduce groups of 100 people across the international border, using a death-by-a-hundred-cuts method, according to Texas officials.
Under pressure from incoming President Trump, Mexico’s new president has vowed to dismantle migrant caravans before they reach the US southern border, as break up two mobs of immigrants.
This has forced criminal smuggling organizations to change their strategy.
“You’ll see these caravans form in the southern part of Mexico, and when they get to Mexico City or the central part of Mexico, they will disperse,” Lt. Chris Olivarez of the Texas Department of Public Safety told DailyMail. com on Monday.
‘That’s when the smuggling organizations get involved, the cartels get involved and they will break them up into smaller groups. Some will go west, others north, which in our case would be Texas.’
Lt. Olivarez believes the large groups that have arrived in Eagle Pass in recent days are the remains of migrant caravans.
The most recent group arrived Sunday when 176 illegal immigrants crossed into Maverick County near the border point, Eagle Pass.
A large group of 176 illegal immigrants crossed into Maverick County near the Eagle Pass border point on Sunday.
Texas officials believe these groups of more than 100 people are the remnants of migrant caravans that dispersed into Mexico before reaching the U.S. border.
The U.S. Border Patrol considers any migrant group with more than 100 people a “large group.”
Sunday’s large group consisted of single adults, family groups, children traveling alone without a parent or guardian and 11 foreigners from so-called special interests: those from countries with which the United States does not have good relations or who could pose threats to national security.
Although these illegal immigrants are not arriving in massive numbers, the same number of people are still passing through, Olivarez added.
“When you have 1,000 people coming across all at once, it obviously generates a lot of national attention, they’re breaking up the groups to make it look like we’re doing something.” In the end they manage to cross the border,” explained the DPS spokesperson.
Large groups also create a nightmare for the US Border Patrol.
Smugglers often move groups to desolate areas of the border, requesting resources from agencies to take the migrants.
The sheer amount of resources invested in responding to large groups often leaves other areas of the border without any coverage.
Finding large groups at the border is a trend that has only been seen at the border during the Biden administration.
A large group of 289 illegal immigrants crossed into Maverick County around 3:30 a.m. on Nov. 29, according to the Texas DPS.
Group seven of 289 people included special interest aliens (SIA) from Iran.
The group was detained by the US Border Patrol, according to the Texas DPS
Before that, it was unheard of to see a large group crossing paths.
In Texas, police can take action to assist Border Patrol because of state laws that allow agents to arrest illegal immigrants simply for being on private land.
“Anytime we are on a property where we have the consent of the owner, who is willing to engage in criminal trespass, then we can make arrests,” Olivarez said.
At Sunday’s large group crossing, more than 80 immigrants were arrested for trespassing.
With the clock ticking before Trump takes office on Jan. 20, Olivarez explained that his department is preparing for all scenarios, including a massive surge at the border.
“We’ve been conducting what we call ‘mass migration response exercises,’ and this is where we send DPS units and National Guard soldiers into an area,” he said.
‘We will invade that area, practically forming a wall with our patrols. “We are prepared for any potential massive surge.”