Texas sheriff says Congress County is ‘under siege’ as department shares migrant smuggling cases
A Texas sheriff told members of Congress that his county was “besieged” by illegal aliens and smugglers crossing the county, trying to get to destinations in the United States.
Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe testified before the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee at a Border Security Field Hearing held in Pharr, Texas, last Wednesday.
Coe said his deputies apprehended 741 smugglers last year and filed more than 3,000 felony cases against smugglers.
“This is a huge increase from calendar year 2021, when we apprehended 169 couriers. We are currently on track to exceed 900 couriers for the year,” Coe explained.
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Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe testifies before the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee during a Border Security Field Hearing held in Pharr, Texas on March 15, 2023. (Homeland Security Committee YouTube Events)
Meanwhile, his department is sharing some of the highest-profile cases they’ve seen on social media.
Just a day before Coe’s testimony, a man was caught smuggling a mother and her two children into a trunk.
“What could have become a high-speed chase came to an abrupt end after a driver hit a deer on RR 674,” reads a Facebook post from the department.
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A mother and her two children, ages 7 and 2, were found in the trunk of a vehicle smuggled into the United States on March 14, 2023. (Kinney County Sheriff’s Office)
The driver was identified as Devin Klein Shawn from Houston, and the two children were 7 and 2 years old.
The night after Coe’s testimony, deputies arrested a driver in an “eye-catching red Corvette” who was trying to lure a load of illegal immigrants into a Ford Fusion. The two drivers were observed “working in tandem”, according to a Facebook post, with their pick-up taking place in the town of Bracketville. The cars were stopped on RR 334 and drivers Jesse Alvarez III, of Floresville and Nestor Adorno Salgado of San Antonio were arrested. They both face three counts of smuggling.
Two illegal immigrants were found in the back of a Ford Fusion in Kinney County, Texas on March 15, 2023. (Kinney County Sheriff’s Office)
The day after Coe’s testimony, soldiers from the Texas Department of Public Safety stopped a rental van on Highway 90 toward Uvalde. Fifteen illegal aliens were found inside.
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers stopped a rental van with 15 illegal immigrants inside, likely heading toward Uvalde on Highway 90, the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook. (Kinney County Sheriff’s Office)
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“Presumably the driver was going to let them out and walk them around the checkpoint before they got there,” reads Facebook.
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