Texas DPS Apprehends 154 Migrants, Including ‘Special Interest’ Cases

A group of more than 100 migrants who entered the U.S. illegally near Eagle Pass, Texas, has been apprehended by authorities, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) reported.
Border security and immigration, which took center stage during the 2024 presidential election, continue to be core concerns for President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to crack down on illegal immigration and has proposed mass deportations.
On Monday, Lieutenant Chris Olivarez, a spokesperson for the DPS-South Texas, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that troopers found 154 migrants, including 20 unaccompanied children—15 boys and 5 girls.
Among the group were six people from Afghanistan, who Olivarez said were “special interest immigrants.” The term refers to individuals from countries or regions that U.S. national security agencies consider as having potential links to terrorism or as posing security concerns.
Olivarez wrote in the post, “Troopers encountered a group of 154 illegal immigrants from Ecuador, Honduras, Guatemala, Brazil, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Cuba, & the Dominican Republic who illegally crossed the Rio Grande between the ports of entry in Eagle Pass, TX.”
He added that the troopers transferred custody of the group to the U.S. Border Patrol, which has jurisdiction over immigration enforcement on federal lands. Newsweek has contacted the DPS for comment via email outside normal working hours.
In 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star, an $11 billion policy that involved integrating the DPS with the Texas National Guard “to combat the smuggling of people and drugs into Texas.”
In October, troopers apprehended 204 migrants in Maverick County, the DPS reported. The group included 57 unaccompanied children aged 8 to 17.
In November, troopers apprehended a group of more than 100 migrants in Eagle Pass, the DPS said. After they detained the group, which included 11 unaccompanied children, Border Patrol took the migrants into custody for processing.
Since the inception of Operation Lone Star, the multiagency effort has led to the apprehension of more than 521,100 undocumented immigrants and more than 47,400 criminal arrests, including more than 41,000 felony charges, according to Abbott’s office. The initiative has also contributed to a reduction of illegal crossings into Texas by more than 86 percent.
Americans support a more hard-line approach toward tackling migration, polling conducted exclusively for Newsweek found.
In a Redfield & Wilton Strategies poll in October, 68 percent of Americans said the federal government should adopt a more hard-line approach to immigration—up from 62 percent at the start of polling in July 2023—with only 10 percent opposing such measures.