Border Patrol authorities in La Grulla, Texas, encountered the biggest group of migrants in the region over the weekend for this fiscal year as over 700 individuals were apprehended by law enforcement between Friday and Sunday.
Agents from the Rio Grande City station on Saturday came across a group of 298 migrants, including 60 unaccompanied children and at least one person who tested positive for COVID-19, walking near a ranch in what was described as the “largest group of migrants encountered by RGV” authorities so far in fiscal year 2021, officials announced on Monday. The infected person was transported to a local hospital.
A day prior, authorities in the same sector found a gaggle of 235 migrants, including 27 unaccompanied minors. On Sunday, 203 migrants were found in one group, and 29 solo minors were located.
n all, 736 individuals were brought into custody by the end of the 72-hour period.
The suspected illegal crossers hailed from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Venezuela, and Nicaragua.
“Even with the spread of the COVID-19 virus, human smugglers continue to try these brazen attempts with zero regard for the lives they endanger nor to the health of the citizens of our great nation,” Border Patrol said in a statement. “The U.S. Border Patrol agents of the Rio Grande Valley Sector will continue to safeguard the nation and community against these criminal elements.”
