Over the last week, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Troopers working Operation Lone Star – the state’s mission to secure our southern border and deter, detect and interdict criminal activity between ports of entry – have apprehended two large groups of illegal immigrants, many coming from countries of special interest, attempting to unlawfully enter the United States.

On the morning of Sept. 30, DPS Troopers working in Eagle Pass encountered a group of 230 illegal immigrants. Among them were 27 from countries of special interest including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Egypt and India. Because these 27 individuals were attempting to circumvent lawful entry into the country to avoid detection and came from countries with extensive terrorist activity, all were turned over to the federal government for processing and additional vetting.

“It is this type of activity, these attempted illegal crossings between the ports of entry by people coming from areas that are hot spots for terrorist activity that clearly highlight the concerns of Governor Abbott and the state of Texas,” said DPS Director Steven McCraw. “These are not illegal immigrants seeking asylum – these are people trying to cross into the United States undetected who may also be trying to do us harm.”

In addition to the 27 illegal immigrants of special interest, DPS Troopers also arrested 41 illegal immigrants for criminal trespass from that group. Those individuals were from Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Argentina, Colombia and the Dominican Republic. Those 41 were taken to the Val Verde Processing Center.

The second incident occurred on Oct. 2, around 7:30 a.m. when DPS received a request for assistance from the Texas National Guard regarding a very large group of illegal immigrants in the Hopedale subdivision area, located about 4 miles north of Eagle Pass. Upon arrival, Troopers apprehended a total of 135 illegal immigrants. The group was comprised of families and single adults from countries of special interest, including 13 from Turkey and one from China.

Also of note, back on Sept. 21, DPS arrested Umar Farooq Ashraf, of South Africa, among a group of 15 illegal immigrants trespassing in Normandy. After being screened and jailed, Troopers received an alert from the Terror Screening Center flagging Ashraf as a subject who may be related to a known or suspected terrorist. He remains in state custody on criminal trespass charges at this time.

Since Operation Lone Star began in early March 2021, there have been more than 47,450 criminal arrests, including more than 11,830 for criminal trespassing. More than 41,070 felony charges have been filed and the department has seized more than 547 million lethal doses of fentanyl statewide. In addition, there have been more than 521,780 illegal immigrant apprehensions and referrals. These numbers are through Sept. 26.