(NewsNation) — Border agents are warning of a new tactic being used to help people cross into the U.S. without permission: Smugglers are directing immigrants to board charter buses to help evade detection.
In a situation awareness bulletin exclusively obtained by NewsNation, agents are being warned of the new tactic. Smugglers tell people to use charter buses, like the ones used for group travel and tours, to transport migrants who have crossed into the U.S. illegally, expecting weak immigration inspects that will allow them to pass through.
People were instructed by a guide working for the cartel to board the charter buses at a Pilot gas station in Eagle Pass, Texas, after having crossed into the U.S. between points of entry.
The smugglers’ goal is to get people into the interior of the country past the 100-mile area where immigration officials are allowed to conduct warrantless stops.
Agents at a nearby checkpoint flagged a charter bus for secondary inspection, where agents discovered eight people on board who did not have documentation.
Historically, migrants on buses usually have a notice to appear, which summons them to immigration court, and buses are often waved through, sources say. People with an NTA have already been processed by authorities and are allowed to travel into the country. The cartels are banking on that oversight or laziness to get people across.
Customs and Border Protection said the incident is a sign that the checkpoints are working. When asked what is being done to prevent cartels from loading people onto these buses in the first place, the agency reiterated that is what the checkpoints are designed to catch.
The driver of the bus was not prosecuted, something that can happen in cases like this because it is difficult to prove the driver knowingly and willingly broke the law.
Traffic in the Del Rio Sector, where Eagle Pass is located, has been picking back up after a drop, sources told NewsNation. Agents in other sectors have reported a drop in crossings following executive actions taken by President Joe Biden designed to deter people from entering illegally.
Agents in Del Rio have reportedly been inundated with people trying to evade detection, including one situation last night where a person was swept away.