Texas Border: Migrants on ATV's vs Border Patrol Helicopters

Interesting developments in the battle against human smuggling along the Texas - Mexico border

El Paso Sector Border Patrol Agents apprehended three migrants being driven across the desert by a human smuggler in this off-road vehicle.Photo byU.S. Border Patrol

As proof that cartel human smugglers will use any tool they can find to bring migrants across the border illegally, the Border Patrol's El Paso Sector reports agents from its Santa Teresa stations recently apprehended three migrants being moved through the desert on a Utility Task Vehicle (UTV) - which is a larger version of an All Terrain Vehicle (ATV) that can carry more people.

The El Paso Border Patrol Sector says human smugglers are increasingly using these off-road vehicles to move migrants through its area.Photo byU.S. Border Patrol

The US Border Patrol (USBP) says cartel human smugglers are increasingly using UTV's - some of them camouflaged - to try and avoid detection and apprehension. The UTV's are a challenge for Border Patrol Agents to chase on the ground - so they often call in helicopters - which the smugglers soon find out they cannot outrun.

Human smugglers are also finding out they can't even outrun Border Patrol Trainees. Twice in recent days groups of migrants have made the mistake of trying to cross areas used to train recent Border Patrol Academy graduates assigned to Field Training Units (FTU) - who got some hands-on experience thanks to their misfortunes.

Eight migrants were captured by a Border Patrol Field Training Unit being schooled by veteran agents near Sierra Blanca, Texas Oct 29, 2024Photo byUS Border Patrol

On October 29, 2024, an FTU assigned to the Sierra Blanca, Texas station in the Big Bend Sector - along with Horse Patrol Agents and K-9 handlers - apprehended eight migrants after tracking them for five hours.

Nine migrants apprehended by Border Patrol Agents assigned to the Three Points Station, Arizona FTU (Oct. 24, 2024).Photo byU.S. Border Patrol

Five days earlier, in the Tucson Border Patrol Sector, an FTU assigned to its Three Points Station - assisted by a motorcycle unit - apprehended nine migrants who were spotted illegally crossing the border by a surveillance camera.

Texas DPS State Trooper opens car trunk to find it crammed full of migrants following high-speed chase of human smuggler in Webb County.Photo byTexas Department of Public Safety

On October 30, 2024, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) State Troopers arrested a human smuggler who led them on a dangerous high-speed chase through Webb County. Troopers discovered 10 illegal immigrants crammed in the rear seat and trunk of the car the smuggler was driving. Among them were two children – ages 8 and 9 years old.

32 migrants were found packed into a "stash house" raided by Border Patrol Agents and Texas DPS Officers in El Paso on Oct. 24, 2024.Photo byU.S. Border Patrol

Meanwhile, law enforcement officers continue to target "stash houses" operated by Cartel human smuggling rings where migrants are hidden just across the border before they are moved deeper into the U.S. On October 24, 2024, Border Patrol Agents along with Texas DPS Officers found more than thirty migrants packed into one "stash house" they raided in El Paso.

Is enough being done to combat human smugglers along the US - Mexico border?

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