Most people accused of smuggling migrants are U.S. citizens

AUSTIN – KERA reports as Texas continues its multi-billion-dollar effort to stop what Republicans call an “invasion” of foreigners, state lawmakers were told this week that most of the people charged with smuggling immigrants during a recent 12-month period aren’t from outside the country. The assessment came during a border-focused meeting of the Texas House Committee on State Affairs, where lawmakers also discussed how much more money Gov. Greg Abbott was going to request from the state legislature to continue Operation Lone Star, the governor’s state-led border security mission, when lawmakers return to Austin in January. On the smuggling charges, Megan LaVoie, the administrative director for the Texas Office of Court Administration, told lawmakers Monday that data from May 2023 to April 2024 showed that 72% of those accused of smuggling immigrants were U.S. citizens. Less than 10% were from Mexico, she added.

“Man, that’s just incredible. I guess I haven’t really seen that. I didn’t see this number before,” said state Rep. Richard Raymond, D-Laredo, who asked for the information. LaVoie said those statistics reflect defendants who have been processed through the central magistration, a process available to state and local officials to process defendants arrested under Operation Lone Star. Of those accused of human smuggling, U.S. citizens account for 1,038 while 140 were from Mexico. That was followed by 88 Hondurans, 43 Cubans and 35 Salvadorans. Exactly who has been arrested for smuggling is noteworthy because of recent actions by the Texas Legislature. During a special session in late 2023, state lawmakers passed Senate Bill 4, which increased penalties for human smuggling to at least 10 years in state prison in most cases. The legislation went into effect in February, but it’s unclear how many of the cases LaVoie referenced fall under that bill as that information wasn’t sought by lawmakers. (The SB4 smuggling bill is separate from Senate Bill 4 passed in a subsequent special session. That law makes unauthorized entry into Texas a state crime and is currently in litigation.)