Authored by Troy Myers via The Epoch Times,
U.S. Border Patrol and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agents busted a stash house used for human smuggling in El Paso, Texas, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) exclusively told The Epoch Times on Monday.
The joint investigation, which resulted in the arrests of 11 illegal immigrant adults and one unaccompanied child found in the house on May 27, highlights the need for strict enforcement efforts at the border to dissuade individuals from entering the country unlawfully through human smugglers, CBP officials said.
"This operation, in partnership with U.S. Border Patrol, reflects our mission to safeguard the homeland and uphold the integrity of our immigration system," HSI El Paso Special Agent in Charge Ryan McRae said. "We remain committed to ensuring the safety and security of El Paso and beyond."
Of the 12 illegal aliens arrested, 10 were from Mexico and two from Guatemala.
The 11 adults were processed and charged with violations of Title 8 of the U.S. Code, CBP said, which encompasses immigration offenses including unlawful entry, unlawful reentry, alien harboring or smuggling, and more.
The unaccompanied minor was "administratively processed," CBP told The Epoch Times.
Following apprehension, an unaccompanied child is transferred into the care and custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, which sits under Department of Health and Human Services.
Chief Patrol Agent Jessie Munoz for the El Paso Sector said his agents and agency partners at HSI are making progress in dismantling criminal smuggling organizations in the region.
The Epoch Times exclusively spoke with other top leadership at the U.S.-Mexico border who echoed the same message.
They described the border as more secure than at any other point in American history, yet some vulnerabilities remain that criminal organizations will attempt to exploit, Chief Patrol Agent Justin De La Torre of the San Diego Sector said.
"Our primary focus is to prevent people from illegally entering in the first place, and it is my strong belief that the only way we can do that is if people know if they choose to use the cartels to come to the United States, they will not be successful," De La Torre said.
Every individual who illegally crosses the border, the San Diego Sector chief said, equates to money going into the hands of the cartels, which charge roughly $10,000 per person to be smuggled into the country.
More often than not, an illegal immigrant doesn't have enough money up front to make this payment, De La Torre said. Instead, they have an agreement with the cartels that if they are successfully smuggled in, they will illegally work in the United States and send money back each paycheck.
"It could take them a year, it could take them six years, but they're paying the smuggling organization until that debt is paid off, and that's usually through fear [from the cartels saying] ... 'If you don't, we know where your family lives,'" De La Torre said.
CBP officials told The Epoch Times that they hear countless stories of illegal immigrants alleging they were sexually assaulted, robbed, or beaten by their smugglers.
"If they can't get a group through, they will kidnap people, call their family members for ransom, just to gain some type of profit," De La Torre said about the smuggling organizations.