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illegal immigration

Texas officers apprehend special interest illegal border crossers, save children

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Image of video footage of Texas Department of Public Safety trooper interviews with unaccompanied minors arriving in Texas. The children, between ages 2-17, claim to arrive without their parents.

From The Center Square

Texas Department of Public Safety officers working through Gov. Greg Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star, continue to apprehend “Special Interest Aliens” and unaccompanied minors illegally entering Texas from Mexico between ports of entry.

In one recently apprehended group, a two-year-old girl from El Salvador tells a trooper her age and that she arrived alone. He asks her in Spanish, “Are you by yourself?” She nods.

When asked how old she was, she held up two fingers. When asked, “Did you come with your parents?” she shook her head.

When asked where she was going, she replied, “With my mom and dad.” When asked, “Where are they?” she replied, “In the United States.”

She was holding a small piece of paper with a phone number and name on it.

She was one of 60 unaccompanied minors among a group of 211 foreign nationals who illegally crossed the border in Maverick County. The children’s ages ranged between 2 and 17.

In several videos posted by DPS Lt. Chris Olivarez, dozens of children interviewed claim to be between the ages of 4 and 17. They said they are from Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.

They also said they were going to “California, Carolina, Florida, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Orlando, New York, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and ‘to the states’.”

“This is a stark example of the precarious journey these children make from their home country and how criminal organizations traffic these children across the southern border and further into the interior,” Olivarez said. “Regardless of political views, it is unacceptable for any child to be exposed to dangerous criminal trafficking networks.

TCS border crisis operation lone star unnacompanied minors
Image of video footage of Texas Department of Public Safety trooper interviews with unaccompanied minors arriving in Texas. The children, between ages 2-17, claim to arrive without their parents.

“With a record number of unaccompanied children and hundreds of thousands missing, there is no one ensuring the safety and security of these children except for the men and women who are on the frontlines daily. Despite the criticism over the years, the reality is that many children are exploited and trafficked, never to be heard from again.”

Abbott lauded OLS officers at recent Thanksgiving events at the border, saying they are saving lives. DPS officers have rescued more than 900 unaccompanied children since OLS began in early 2021.

DPS officers also apprehended six SIAs from Mali and Angola who were in the group in Maverick County.

SIAs are noncitizens who, based “on an analysis of travel patterns,” are “known or evaluated to possibly have a nexus to terrorism” who “potentially poses a national security risk to the United States,” the U.S. Department of Homeland Security explains. Having an SIA designation does not necessarily mean the individual is a terrorist, but their travel pattern “indicates a possible nexus to nefarious activity (including terrorism) and, at a minimum, provides indicators that necessitate heightened screening and further investigation,” DHS says.

Texas DPS has been sounding the alarm about an increased number of arrests of SIAs, The Center Square has reported. Recent arrests are primarily of men from countries of foreign concern, including Iran, a U.S. State Department designated State Sponsor of Terrorism.

Other SIAs DPS has apprehended are from Egypt, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Mali, and Turkey, The Center Square has reported.

President Joe Biden recently extended executive orders declaring multiple national emergencies, citing national security threats related to Iran, ISIS, Syria, Afghanistan, the DRC, among others, The Center Square reported.

Meanwhile, under Biden, Border Patrol agents identified “an exponential increase” in SIAs … with significant ties to terrorism” a retired sector chief told Congress, saying he was instructed not to publicize their arrests.

No administration has ever published the number of SIA arrests. In September, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Georgia, introduced a bill requiring the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to publish every month the number of arrested SIAs and their country of origin, The Center Square reported.

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illegal immigration

Heightened alert: Iranians in U.S. previously charged with support for terrorism

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Texas Department of Public Safety brush team apprehends gotaways and smuggler in Hidalgo County.   

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Prior to President Donald Trump authorizing targeted strikes against Iranian nuclear sites on Saturday, federal agents and Texas Department of Public Safety troopers have been arresting Iranian nationals, nearly all men, in the U.S. illegally. In the last few months, federal prosecutors have also brought terrorism charges against Iranians, including those in the U.S. working for the Iranian government.

Iran is a designated state sponsor of terrorism. Iranian nationals illegally in the country are considered “special interest aliens” under federal law.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Sunday issued a warning to all Americans to be on a heightened threat alert.

“The ongoing Iran conflict is causing a heightened threat environment in the United States,” DHS warned. “Low-level cyber attacks against US networks by pro-Iranian hacktivists are likely, and cyber actors affiliated with the Iranian government may conduct attacks against US networks.

“Iran also has a long-standing commitment to target US Government officials it views as responsible for the death of an Iranian military commander killed in January 2020.”

U.S. officials have no idea how many Iranians are in the U.S. illegally because at least two million “gotaways” were recorded entering the U.S. during the Biden administration. Gotaways are those who illegally entered the U.S. between ports of entry who were not apprehended.

Key arrests include an Iranian living in the sanctuary jurisdiction of Natick, Mass., who is charged “with conspiring to export sophisticated electronic components from the United States to Iran in violation of U.S. export control and sanctions laws,” The Center Square reported. Authorities accuse the Iranian of illegally exporting the technological equipment to a company in Iran that contracts with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a US-designated foreign terrorist organization (FTO). The company allegedly manufactured drones used by the IRGC that killed U.S. soldiers stationed in Jordan.

Texas DPS troopers have arrested dozens of Iranian special interest aliens. Last October, DPS troopers questioned Iranians who illegally entered the U.S. near Eagle Pass, Texas, who said they came through Mexico and were headed to Florida, Las Vegas and San Francisco, The Center Square reported.

Last November and December, DPS troopers arrested Iranians in Maverick County after sounding the alarm about an increase of SIAs they were apprehending, The Center Square reported.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers also apprehended an Iranian with terrorist ties who illegally entered the U.S. near Buffalo, New York, The Center Square reported.

More recently, in April, two Iranians were charged in New York with conspiring to procure U.S. parts for Iranian drones, conspiring to provide material support to the IRGC and conspiring to commit money laundering. They remain at large. The charges “lay bare how U.S.-made technology ended up in the hands of the Iranian military to build attack drones,” DOJ National Security Division chief Sue Bai said.

Also in April, two Iranians and one Pakistani, were indicted in Virginia “for conspiring to provide and providing material support to Iran’s weapons of mass destruction program resulting in death and conspiring to commit violence against maritime navigation and maritime transport involving weapons of mass destruction resulting in death.” The Pakistani is awaiting trial; the Iranians remain at large.

Their involvement in maritime smuggling off the coast of Somalia led to the death of two Navy SEALs, according to the charges.

Also in April, a naturalized citizen working for the Federal Aviation Administration as a contractor pleaded guilty to charges of “acting and conspiring to act as an illegal agent of the Iranian government in the United States” for a period of five years. He was indicted last December in the District of Columbia for “infiltrating a U.S. agency with the intent of providing Iran with sensitive information,” including exfiltrating sensitive FAA documents to Iranian intelligence.

“The brazen acts of this defendant – acting against the United States while on U.S. soil – is a clear example of how our enemies are willing to take risks in order to do us harm,” U.S. Attorney Edward Martin said. “We want to remind anyone with access to our critical infrastructure about the importance of keeping that information out of the hands of our adversaries. I want to commend our prosecutors and law enforcement partners who secured a guilty plea that will keep our country safer.”

Also in April, an Iranian national was indicted in Ohio for operating a dark web marketplace selling methamphetamine, cocaine, fentanyl, heroin and oxycodone and other drugs; and for stealing financial information, using fraudulent identification documents, counterfeit currencies, and computer malware. Working with German and Lithuanian partners, he was charged, servers and other infrastructure were seized, and drugs and other contraband were stopped from entering the U.S., DOJ Criminal Division head Matthew Galeotti said.

Also in April, ICE Homeland Security Investigations in New York announced a civil forfeiture action halting an Iranian oil sale scheme that went on for years under the Biden administration.

The scheme involved facilitating the shipment, storage and sale of Iranian petroleum product owned by the National Iranian Oil Company for the benefit of the IRGC and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, designated FTOs. The facilitators allegedly claimed the Iranian oil was from Malaysia, manipulated tanker identification information, falsified documents, paid storage fees in U.S. dollars and conducted transactions with U.S. financial institutions. The federal government seized $47 million in proceeds from the sale.

The complaint alleges they provided material support to the IRGC and IRGC-QF because profits support “proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, support for terrorism, and both domestic and international human rights abuses.”

Last December, a federal court in the District of Columbia ordered the forfeiture of nearly $12 million connected with Iran’s illicit petroleum industry, involving Triliance Petrochemical Company, the IRGC and Quds Forces. FBI Tampa and Minneapolis were involved in the investigation.

Examples also exist of Iranians making false statements when applying for naturalization, including an Iranian in Tampa indicted last year.

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LA protests continue as judge pulls back CA National Guard ahead of ‘No Kings Day’

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Protests in Los Angeles continued into Thursday night as tensions died down across the West Coast ahead of thousands of anti-Trump demonstrations planned for Saturday — the “No Kings Day” event is set to take place coast-to-coast amid civil unrest nationwide.

The Los Angeles Police Department posted to X as the 8 p.m. curfew went into effect Thursday, reporting that protesters were throwing “bricks, concrete and commercial grade fireworks.” The agency said less lethal munitions have been authorized and “may cause pain and discomfort.

The curfew covers an area where demonstrators have spent days protesting President Donald Trump’s immigration raids and the deployment of the California National Guard. A federal judge blocked his use of the guard late Thursday, but did not rule on the Marines also deployed there.

Gov. Gavin Newsom held a press conference in San Francisco shortly after the ruling, calling out Trump for deploying the guard without his consent. U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer’s preliminary injunction takes effect Friday, at which point Newsom will resume control of his National Guard.

“This is what he does. He creates a problem, and then he tries to be a hero in his own Marvel movie. He initiated those raids,” Newsom said of Trump’s actions.  “He significantly increased the scale and scope of those raids. That’s why he wants the National Guard, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of guardsmen and women, now being dispersed everywhere.”

The Trump administration filed an intent to appeal Breyer’s ruling shortly after. In the meantime, the guard will go back to its regular duties on Friday instead of guarding the federal immigration in downtown Los Angeles, only one day before thousands of protests nationwide against Trump.

According to a press release, the LAPD arrested 71 people for failure to disperse Wednesday night into Thursday morning, and intends to post another update Friday morning. Seven others were also arrested for violating the curfew, and two for assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon.

Protesters filmed live streams on YouTube leading up to the curfew, reporting that some people were arrested and that they heard munitions being fired. Some demonstrators encouraged the group to disperse, adding that escalating things may be what the administration is waiting for.

The Los Angeles Department of Transportation posted to social media Thursday evening that it had cut services short for the day in response to the protests. LAPD vehicles were seen lining the streets, with officers ready to issue arrests in the event of further unrest or curfew violations.

In some live streams, officers were seen issuing arrests just 30 minutes after the 8 p.m. curfew, and in some instances, towing away vehicles. Another protest in Salt Lake City, Utah, kicked off at 6 p.m. on Thursday after the Party for Socialism & Liberation called for demonstrations there.

The Salt Lake Police Department told KSL News Radio that the demonstration of roughly 600 people was mostly peaceful, aside from a damaged Tesla. Officers broke up some fights and remained on scene as it died down around 8:30 p.m., Brian Will with KUTV 2 News reported.

This is a developing story.

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