More Than 100 Illegal Immigrants Apprehended in Texas

A group of more than 100 migrants has been apprehended in Eagle Pass by authorities, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS).

"This morning, @TxDPS encountered a group of 116 illegal immigrants who were apprehended in Eagle Pass," Lieutenant Chris Olivarez, a spokesperson for the DPS-South Texas, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday. "Among the group were 11 unaccompanied children, including siblings from Honduras, ages 4 & 7, with a piece of paper to an address in Alabama."

The group, including the children, was detained and taken into custody by U.S. Border Patrol to be processed.

The latest large-scale apprehension comes after a group of more than 200 illegal migrants was apprehended in Maverick County, according to the DPS. Troopers found a total of 204 undocumented migrants, including 57 unaccompanied children aged 8 to 17, according to DPS-South Texas.

A group of more than 100 migrants has been apprehended in Eagle Pass by authorities, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Texas Department of Public Safety DPS

As part of Texas Governor Greg Abbott's $11 billion flagship policy, Operation Lone Star, DPS has been deployed to stem the flow of undocumented immigration as well as prevent drug and human trafficking.

A press release issued after the operation was launched in 2021 said it would integrate the DPS with the Texas National Guard "to combat the smuggling of people and drugs into Texas."

Since the launch of Operation Lone Star, the multi-agency initiative has resulted in the apprehension of more than 521,100 undocumented immigrants and more than 47,400 criminal arrests, including more than 41,000 felony charges, according to Abbott's office, which said Texas has cut illegal crossings into the state by more than 86 percent.

Abbott has used razor wire, buoy barriers, and local troops to curb undocumented migration.

Immigration was at the forefront of President-elect Donald Trump's campaign. The National Border Patrol Council, the union representing U.S. Border Patrol agents, issued a statement congratulating Trump on his victory over Vice President Kamala Harris.

National Border Patrol Council Vice President Art Del Cueto told Newsweek: "We consider today's victory for President Trump not just a victory for himself, but a victory for the entire country. We look forward to working with him like we have in the past to fix the many issues that have affected our nation's borders in the last four years."

Americans back a more hardline approach toward tackling migration, according to polling conducted exclusively for Newsweek.

In the most recent Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll in October, 68 percent of Americans said the federal government should adopt a more hardline approach to immigration—up from 62 percent at the start of polling in July 2023—with only 10 percent opposing such measures.