Texas sheriff tells Congress county 'under siege' as department shares migrant smuggling cases
'We are currently on track right now to exceed 900 smugglers for the year,' Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe says
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Texas sheriff told members of Congress his county is "under siege" by illegal aliens and smugglers going through the county, trying to get to destinations within the United States.
Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe testified before the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security at a field hearing on border security held in Pharr, Texas, last Wednesday.
Coe said his deputies apprehended 741 human smugglers last year and filed over 3,000 felony cases against the smugglers.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"That's a huge increase from calendar year 2021, when we apprehended 169 human smugglers. We are currently on track right 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 U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security at a field hearing on border security held in Pharr, Texas on March 15, 2023. (Homeland Security Committee Events YouTube)
Meanwhile, his department is sharing some of the most high-profile cases they have been seeing on social media.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Just one day before Coe's testimony, a man was caught smuggling a mother and two children inside a trunk.
"What may have become a high-speed-pursuit came to an abrupt end after a driver hit a deer on RR 674," a department Facebook post reads.
6 WOMEN WHO WENT MISSING IN MEXICO WERE KILLED, BODIES BURNED BY ARMED MEN
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A mother and two children, ages 7 and 2, were found in the trunk of a vehicle being 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 deputies busted a driver in an "eye-catching red Corvette" that was attempting to decoy for a load of illegal immigrants in a Ford Fusion. The two drivers were observed "working in tandem," according to a Facebook post, with their pickup taking place in the city of Bracketville. The cars were pulled over on RR 334, and drivers Jesse Alvarez III, of Floresville and Nestor Adorno Salgado of San Antonio were arrested. They are both facing three counts of smuggling.
Two illegal immigrants found in the back of a Ford Fusion in Kinney County, Texas, on March 15, 2023. (Kinney County Sheriff's Office)
The day following Coe's testimony, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers pulled over a rental van on Highway 90 headed for Uvalde. Fifteen illegal aliens were found inside.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Texas Department of Public Safety troopers pulled over a rental van with 15 illegal immigrants inside, likely heading for Uvalde on Highway 90, Kinney County Sheriff's Office said on Facebook. (Kinney County Sheriff's Office)
"Presumably, the driver was going to let them out and have them hike their way around the checkpoint before getting there," a subsequent Facebook post reads.