Authorities discovered more than two dozen ‘Special Interest Aliens’ traveling in a group of hundreds of illegals who entered Texas this week.
On Monday morning, Texas Department of Public Safety (TxDPS) troopers encountered a mob of 230 illegal migrants from across the globe in the border city of Eagle Pass.
A total of 27 Special Interest Aliens were identified and pulled aside for additional screening.
With just one exception, a woman from Iran, all of the them were military-age males hailing from Egypt, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran.
Other invaders in the group came from Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Argentina, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic.
TxDPS arrested 41 of the illegals and charged them with criminal trespass, while the rest were presumably turned over to Border Patrol.
DPS Troopers arrested 41 illegal immigrants for criminal trespass. The group of 41, from Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Argentina, Colombia, & the Dominican Republic, were jailed & taken to the Val Verde Processing Center. 2/2#OperationLoneStar pic.twitter.com/2oEAXumTM5
— Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez) September 30, 2024
On Sept. 20, TxDPS spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez published footage of troopers interviewing a group of Special Interest Aliens from Turkey who had been caught after crossing illegally in the Normandy area, just north of Eagle Pass.
The men said they had each paid $12,000 to a sponsor in New Jersey who was part of a network smuggling them into the U.S.
TxDPS encountered eight Special Interest Aliens in the Normandy region during a span of 48 hours.
INTERVIEW VIDEO: @TxDPS Troopers interviewed a group of special interest immigrants from Turkey. One of the males spoke English and stated they each paid 12K to cross from Mexico & found a sponsor in New Jersey through a ‘network.’
— Chris Olivarez (@LtChrisOlivarez) September 20, 2024
When asked what a sponsor means, the male… https://t.co/Ad3emCiabz pic.twitter.com/wIhkJQzeEA
DHS defines Special Interest Alien thusly:
Generally, an SIA is a non-U.S. person who, based on an analysis of travel patterns, potentially poses a national security risk to the United States or its interests. Often such individuals or groups are employing travel patterns known or evaluated to possibly have a nexus to terrorism. DHS analysis includes an examination of travel patterns, points of origin, and/or travel segments that are tied to current assessments of national and international threat environments.
In May, federal authorities revealed more than 52,000 “Special Interest Aliens” had already been encountered at U.S. borders in Fiscal Year 2024, which ended on September 30.
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