Mission, Texas — A recent wave of undocumented families entering the U.S. is now surpassing its peak from 2013, when the humanitarian crisis began. And nowhere is it more evident than in the Texas Rio Grande Valley.
“That area is utilized to transport or to bring in family units and unaccompanied children… it’s the most highly used area,” said RGV Sector Border Patrol Agent Marcelino Medina. “That’s going to be the Rincon village.”
The KENS 5 Border Team followed Medina and a handful of agents in a foot chase of presumed undocumented immigrants just before dawn.
“They’ll be going into the brush, they’ll be running, they’ll try to take risks to avoid Border Patrol agents,” he warned.
A group of 14 immigrants split up, trying to hide in the brush. Any misstep, can give away the agent’s position.
A helicopter flying above provided an aerial view of the group, which was eventually chased out to the end of a caliche road.
We caught up to two men: Roberto from Mexico and Jose from El Salvador. They both said they left their countries because of economic and security reasons.
Jose said he was threatened by gangs. He had tried to come to the U.S. once before with his family, but he got caught in Mexico and was subsequently deported, he said. This was his second attempt, which got him across the border, but it wasn’t far enough.
“Half of them are family units and unaccompanied children. Those are individuals who turn themselves in, give themselves up, and draw from man power to actually process these individuals,” explained Medina. “The other half will be individuals like these who will try to evade apprehension.”
“It is a tactic but moreover it is a coordinated effort by that transnational criminal organization to get their commodity across,” he added.
Rincon Village is in a corner of the Rio Grande Valley, mostly designated as federal land. It's also the site where the most migrants try entering the U.S., Medina said.
“When we look at month-to-month numbers they have been on a steady incline,” noted Medina. “The number of other-than-Mexican family units that we apprehended has surpassed the number of other-than-Mexican family units that we saw in 2014.”
Families like Maura Najera and Olvin Avila, who said they fled Honduras out of need.
“Our family and friends we were in touch with would tell us where to cross and how to get help,” said Najera.
But, why not stay in Mexico?
“Not in Mexico, because MS-13 is also there. There’s crime and insecurity,” said Avila.
In nearby Mission, calls came in of agents on a vehicle pursuit. The KENS 5 Border Team arrived at the scene where one innocent driver was hit by the fleeing suspects. Agents arrested four undocumented immigrants and their U.S. citizen driver.
As the day went on, the KENS 5 Border Team encountered more immigrants being smuggled across the Rio Grande, spotting people on the Mexican side of the river, some in plain sight, others hiding behind trees.
“There’s your scout,” Medina pointed out.
By mid-day another group was being processed by agents in Rincon Village. However, they weren't Salvadorans, Guatemalans or Hondurans – but Nicaraguans.
More and more Nicaraguans are fleeing their country. They say they’re escaping from what they deemed an oppressive government and violence.
“I’ve endured several sleepless nights, walking hungry,” said Rosa Perez.
Perez said she has suffered along the way, but it has been worth it now that she’s in the U.S. She thanked God her life has been spared from the dangerous journey. However, she’s remorseful she had to leave her loved ones behind in Nicaragua.
“I left my brother and my nephew,” she said sobbing. “They just couldn’t come with me.”
Nicaraguan Martha Mejia told a similar story. She left her 11- and 6-year-old with her mother, who sold her house to be able to afford the trip.
By the end of the ride-along, the KENS 5 Border Team encountered roughly 50 undocumented immigrants. The tally for the end of the work day was over 700 in all the Rio Grande Valley sector. It was the third consecutive day with similarly high numbers that October week.
Fiscal year 2018 has seen a steady incline with numbers swelling during the last few months. A total of 396,579 undocumented immigrants were apprehended along the southwest border, just below 2013 numbers when the Central American exodus began. That’s still less than a third from the 1.6 million reported in 2000.
Agents point to the instability in Latin America fuelling illegal immigration and funding the cartels. A cycle that shows no signs of breaking any time soon.