Texas police agents detected and apprehended 154 immigrants from nine countries this Sunday, including an unspecified number of Cubans, who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally via the Rio Bravo, authorities reported.
Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) officials discovered a group of 154 illegal immigrants from Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala, Brazil, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic who illegally crossed the Rio Grande [Rio Bravo] between the ports of entry in Eagle Pass, the agency's spokesperson, Chris Olivarez, reported in a statement on the social media platform X this Monday.
The official alerted that this group included "six immigrants of special interest from Afghanistan." Their photos were released by the authorities.
Authorities also rescued 20 unaccompanied children (15 boys and five girls) who were without family or adult guardians.
Olivarez specified that the group was handed over to the U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) for initially crossing through federal/private lands without physical barriers, due to the "lack of the owner's consent."
The operation is part of Texas's efforts to curb illegal crossings of migrants in the border area of its territory, through Operation Lone Star, a strategy launched in 2021 by Governor Greg Abbott.
The Republican has blamed the policies of President Joe Biden's administration for the massive influx and illegal entry of immigrants at the Texas-Mexico border.
In September, 9,315 Cubans arrived in the U.S., the lowest number of entries for the fiscal year (FY 2024) that ended that month, according to data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
During that fiscal period, a total of 217,615 Cubans were inspected by CBP and entered U.S. soil. This was the second highest number since 2021, just surpassed by the record of 224,607 in the fiscal year 2022, amid the largest migration exodus in Cuba's history.
After being elected for his second term as president, Donald Trump confirmed that among his priorities is the implementation of an immigration plan aimed at significantly restricting the entry of immigrants to the U.S. In this project, he plans to eliminate two mechanisms that have been crucial for the arrival of Cubans to the North American country.
Trump plans to eliminate the humanitarian parole program, which currently benefits citizens of Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Haiti, as well as the appointment system of the CBP One mobile app.
The day before, the elected 47th president of the northern nation announced his intention to declare a national emergency and deploy the military to carry out his plan for mass deportations.
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