A Texas sheriff told members of Congress that his county was “under siege” by illegal aliens and smugglers passing through the county, trying to reach destinations within the United States.
Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe testified before the US House Committee on Homeland Security at a field hearing on border security held in Pharr, Texas, last Wednesday.
Coe said his deputies caught 741 people smugglers last year and filed more than 3,000 felony charges against smugglers.
“That’s a big increase from calendar year 2021, when we caught 169 people smugglers. We’re currently on track now to exceed 900 smugglers for the year,” Coe explained.
ICE ARRESTS 220 CRIMINAL ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WITH CONVICTIONS INCLUDING RAPE, MURDER
Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe testifies before the US House Committee on Homeland Security during a field hearing on border security held in Pharr, Texas on March 15, 2023. (Homeland Security Committee Events on YouTube)
Meanwhile, his department shares some of the most high-profile cases they see on social media.
Just one day before Coe’s testimony, a man was caught smuggling a mother and two children inside a trunk.
“What could have been a high-speed-pursuit ended abruptly after a driver struck a deer on RR 674,” a department Facebook post read.
6 WOMEN MISSING IN MEXICO DEAD, BODY BURNED BY ARMED MEN
A mother and two children, ages 7 and 2, were found in the trunk of a vehicle smuggled into the United States on March 14, 2023. (Kinney County Sheriff’s Office)
The driver was identified as Devin Klein Shawn from Houston, and the two children were ages 7 and 2.
The night after Coe’s testimony, Coe’s deputies busted a driver in a “striking red Corvette” who was attempting to act as a decoy for a load of illegal immigrants in a Ford Fusion. The two drivers were observed “working in tandem,” according to a Facebook post, in their pickup taking place in the city of Bracketville. The vehicles were pulled over on RR 334, and the drivers, Jesse Alvarez III, of Floresville and Nestor Adorno Salgado of San Antonio, were arrested. They are both facing three charges of smuggling.
Two illegal immigrants were found in the back of a Ford Fusion in Kinney County, Texas, on March 15, 2023. (Kinney County Sheriff’s Office)
The day after Coe’s testimony, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers stop in a rental van on Highway 90 towards Uvalde. Fifteen illegal aliens were found inside.
A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper pulled over a rental van with 15 illegal immigrants inside, possibly headed to Uvalde on Highway 90, the Kinney County Sheriff’s Office said on Facebook. (Kinney County Sheriff’s Office)
“Maybe the driver let them out and they walk through the checkpoint before getting there,” a subsequent Facebook post said.