Three Chinese nationals, each of whom paid the smugglers $35,000, were detained Tuesday after illegally crossing the southern border.
Fox News’ Bill Melugin was with soldiers from the Texas Department of Public Safety when they saw three Chinese nationals and a woman from Colombia illegally cross into Mission, Texas. The city lies near the southern tip of Texas, along the Rio Grande River, and is a hotbed of illegal smuggling activity.
Texas DPS says an interpreter was required to communicate with the Chinese nationals.
(FoxNews)
Texas DPS Police Lt. Chris Olivarez told Fox News that the four people were brought in on a raft from Mexico.
Video shot by Fox News shows Border Patrol agents questioning the illegal immigrants, who are visibly shivering with cold. Subsequently, the migrants were detained and processed.
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The Chinese citizens told the soldiers, through an interpreter, that they each paid the smuggler $35,000 to cross into the US illegally. Smugglers typically charge Chinese citizens a higher fee.
“This is an example of how much money is involved in human smuggling and how it strengthens transnational criminal organizations that exploit the vulnerabilities of illegal immigrants and expose open border policies imposed by the federal government,” Olivarez said.
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Olivarez told Fox News that encountering Chinese nationals crossing illegally between ports of entry is rare. Although migrants from Central and South America make up the majority of those at the border, citizens of at least 170 countries arrived at the border last year.
