More than 50 illegal aliens were found living there when a stash house in El Paso, Texas, where human traffickers concealed illegal immigrants, was raided recently.
According to KTSM-TV, the raid was carried out by the Santa Teresa Anti-Smuggling Unit of the Border Patrol, the Border Patrol’s Integrated Targeting Team, and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers.
Border Patrol El Paso Sector Chief Anthony Good said on Twitter that authorities “encountered 54 migrants inside a local stash house living in deplorable conditions. 6 migrants were found to have prior removal orders and will be prosecuted accordingly.”
#SantaTeresa Anti-Smuggling Unit, #ElPaso Sector Integrated Targeting Team & @txDPSWest encountered 54 migrants inside a local stash house living in deplorable conditions. 6 migrants were found to have prior removal orders and will be prosecuted accordingly. @CBP pic.twitter.com/HDDzHl8K3F
— El Paso Sector Border Patrol (@USBPChiefEPT) May 13, 2023
There are many stash homes. According to a Customs and Border Protection press release from April, the Border Patrol conducted raids at two locations close to El Paso last month.
51 unauthorized immigrants were uncovered during one operation. The illegal immigrants originated in Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, and Honduras.
According to the press announcement, two ‘caretakers’ were detained and are now being charged with smuggling people.
94 illegal immigrants from Guatemala, Mexico, and Ecuador were discovered in a stash house during the second raid in early April.
All illegal immigrants discovered during such operations were expelled because Title 42 was still in force in April.
Ysleta Station Anti-Smuggling Units foiled a smuggling scheme w/ @TxDPS involving 51 migrants located inside a local residence. Subsequent interviews led to another stash house w/95 more migrants, totaling 146 migrants intercepted. That’s over 130 stash houses this FY23YTD! @CBP pic.twitter.com/gBKW2atDWE
— El Paso Sector Border Patrol (@USBPChiefEPT) April 3, 2023
According to the press release, during the federal fiscal year 2023, Border Patrol agents in the El Paso Sector discovered 130 stash houses housing more than 1,800 illegal aliens.
“The citizens in our local El Paso community provide an important partnership to help us safeguard our city. We encourage anyone with information to report suspicious activity to our office. That one phone call could help save many lives,” Good said.
In April, a stash house in Socorro, Texas, was linked with sex trafficking, according to the El Paso Times.
“Preliminary information suggests that a large number of unaccompanied and younger aged females located have been the target of sex trafficking and were treated by emergency medical services on the scene,” a news release said.
In August, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said that the Texas Stash House Program exists to encourage reports of these human smuggling operations, according to a news release.
“These stash houses contain people or drugs that may have otherwise made their way across Texas and the nation because of the dangerous gaps left by the Biden Administration’s refusal to secure the border. With the help of Texans across the state, we can bring criminals to justice, destroy their illegal enterprises, and keep our communities safe,” Abbott said.
As part of Governor Abbott’s Stash House Reward Program, DPS received an anonymous tip that led to the discovery of a stash house hiding 10 illegal immigrants in Webb County on Tuesday. https://t.co/o1JGH9JGCG
— Texas Border Business (@TBBusiness) October 18, 2022
The press announcement stated that more than 170 stash houses holding more than 1,900 illegal immigrants had been discovered between March 2021 and August 2022.
