Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said Mexican drug cartels have become more brazen in human trafficking due to President Joe Biden's southern border policy.
Cruz took to Twitter on Tuesday to share a news story about Border Patrol agents disrupting human smuggling schemes last week.
"The cartels are becoming more and more aggressive with their human trafficking efforts because they know President [Joe] Biden won't enforce the law," tweeted Cruz, who shared a KFox 14 story.
The media outlet reported Friday that El Paso Sector Border Patrol agents disrupted 49 human smuggling schemes and discovered 277 smuggled migrants last week.
"Transnational Criminal Organizations continue to recklessly endanger the lives of the migrants they smuggle for their own financial gain and with no regard for human life," El Paso Sector acting Chief Patrol Agent Peter Jaquez said, Fox 14 reported.
"Human smuggling is a federal crime and the El Paso Sector will continue to work diligently with our U.S. attorney partners in the west Texas district and the state of New Mexico to prosecute smugglers that endanger and exploit migrants."
Ysleta border agents found seven Mexican migrants in a dark-colored pickup truck. The migrants admitted to not having proper immigration documentation to be legally present in the U.S.
The migrants were evaluated medically and processed before being expelled back to Mexico under Title 42, Fox 14 reported.
The truck's driver, a Mexican citizen, was detained and will face charges for human smuggling, Border Patrol said.
In Deming, at a tactical checkpoint located in southern New Mexico, border agents detained 38 migrants who were traveling in six vehicles at a tactical checkpoint.
Multiple individuals tried to flee from the vehicles but were detained, Border Patrol said.
The migrants — from Ecuador, Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala — were medically evaluated and processed.
The drivers, all citizens of Mexico, were detained and processed under conspiracy to transport, agents said.
In a separate vehicle stop, Deming border agents found eight migrants — from El Salvador, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Mexico — crammed in a black SUV.
The migrants were processed, and the driver, a U.S. resident, will face charges for conspiracy to transport, Border Patrol said.
Some migrants were expelled back to Mexico under Title 42, and others were transported to the Central Processing Center to be processed under Title 8, which allows Border Patrol to process and remove migrants who do not have a legal basis to remain in the U.S. and cannot be expelled under Title 42, Fox 14 reported.
Fox 14 said El Paso Sector Border Patrol successfully federally prosecuted 642 cases for human smuggling schemes during fiscal year 2022. To date, in fiscal year 2023, there have been 141 cases federally prosecuted.
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