Federal prosecutors in Houston say they have hit a new wave of alleged border-related crime with a heavy hammer, announcing Friday that 211 people are facing charges tied to a broad border security push that ranges from felony illegal reentry to alleged human smuggling and dozens of criminal complaints for illegal entry. Officials say the filings are part of a ramped-up, multi-agency effort targeting transnational crime and repeat immigration offenders across South Texas.
According to MyTexasDaily, Acting U.S. Attorney John G.E. Marck said 211 individuals have been charged in total. The outlet reports that the Southern District of Texas filed 133 felony illegal reentry counts after prior removal, 26 alleged human smuggling charges and 49 criminal complaints for illegal entry, with the remaining cases tied to other immigration and firearms offenses. MyTexasDaily also identified several defendants and summarized prior convictions that appear in the government filings.
Operation Take Back America and federal partners
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the charges fall under “Operation Take Back America,” described as a nationwide Justice Department campaign that pulls together federal partners to tighten security along the southern border, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. The office notes that the cases were referred or supported by ICE-HSI, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, Border Patrol, the DEA, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and ATF.
That same release points out that the Southern District of Texas covers 43 counties and a population of more than 10 million people. Federal officials say that kind of footprint goes a long way toward explaining why the district regularly posts some of the highest case volumes in the country…