Border Patrol apprehended three migrants Tuesday after they allegedly stole guns and ammunition from a Hudspeth County, Texas, ranch house, agents said.
After searching the trio of suspected criminals, law enforcement recovered “two loaded handguns, ammunition, food and clothing,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced Wednesday. Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Office took custody of the migrants to investigate the incident and determine whether it would charge the group with trespassing and theft of property.
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Big Bend sector chief patrol agent Sean McGoffin warned the “situation could have turned violent” with the armed suspects.
“Through extensive training, our Border Patrol Agents are always prepared and ready to respond to various scenarios. Without hesitation, these agents responded to the ranch house and safely secured the location, the stolen weapons and the undocumented non-citizens,” he said in a statement. “With the presence of weapons in the wrong hands, this situation could have turned violent; fortunately, our agents were able to control the encounter and bring it to a peaceful resolution.”
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Illegal immigration and the apprehension of criminal migrants is on the rise as agents reported 180,000 attempted border crossings for the month of May, a record high under President Joe Biden’s administration. The number is up from 178,622 in April and 172,331 in March. Roughly 8,000 of the 180,034 people whom border authorities encountered were denied entry at a port of entry, while the remainder traversed the border through unfenced areas.
Biden has faced bipartisan backlash for his handling of a crisis at the southern border, while Vice President Kamala Harris has faced scorn for her trip to El Paso, which came over 90 days after she was appointed immigration czar. Conservatives criticized Harris’s trek for being far from the epicenter of the surge.
