Three U.S. Army soldiers stationed at Fort Cavazos, Texas, were charged in a human smuggling case involving illegal immigrants from Mexico and Guatemala, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
The soldiers, Emilio Mendoza Lopez, Angel Palma, and Enrique Jauregui, face federal charges of “bringing in and harboring aliens,” with Palma and Jauregui also charged with assaulting a federal agent.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office identified Jauregui as the “recruiter and facilitator of the human smuggling conspiracy.”
The arrests occurred on November 27 when U.S. Border Patrol stopped a car in Presidio, Texas, driven by Palma.
The vehicle contained three illegal immigrants and Mendoza Lopez. When the suspects fled, their vehicle collided with a Border Patrol vehicle, injuring an agent, according to a criminal complaint.
Earlier this week, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) revealed that the U.S. government spent almost $151 billion on illegal immigration in 2023.
The number is 2.6% of the entire $6.1 trillion annual spending.
DOGE revealed other instances of government waste last week.
In 2024, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) spent $1.8 billion studying racism, DOGE said.
This included $125K on “Examining Anti-Racist Healing in Nature,” $151K on “Perceived racism, cardiovascular disease risk, and neurocognitive aging,” and $516K on “Effects of Racism on Brain and Pathways to Health Disparities.”
DOGE also revealed that “federal government agencies are using, on average, just 12% of the space in their DC headquarters,” noting that the Department of Agriculture “averaged 456 workers each day (6% occupancy).” The department has space for more than 7,400 people.
