10 suspected illegal migrants arrested in Texas home amid child porn investigation

BAYTOWN, Texas (TND) — A Texas Sheriff’s Office arrested 10 suspected undocumented immigrants Thursday at a Baytown home in which child pornography was purportedly downloaded.

The Chambers County Sheriff’s Office executed a search warrant at the house after allegedly receiving intelligence indicating child pornography was obtained there. The residents, who were Asian and Guatemalan, refused to answer deputies' requests to open the door, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Officers then purportedly entered through force.

Detectives are continuing the investigation to determine whether human trafficking or smuggling has been committed. The Department of Homeland Security has assisted with the investigation and processed the residents, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested nearly 14,000 people in the Houston region during the 2023 fiscal year, with roughly 600 of them registered as Guatemalan citizens.

Last month, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) Boston apprehended a 33-year-old Guatemalan national on charges of child rape, as well as indecent assault and battery of a minor under 14 years old. The arrest came nearly two months after ICE ERO Seattle apprehended six noncitizens for child exploitation crimes.

“Noncitizens who commit repugnant acts at the expense of children will not be allowed to claim our great nation as their home,” Seattle Field Office Director Drew Bostock asserted following the operation.

READ MORE | 26-year-old man charged with rape of child in Massachusetts hotel housing migrants

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas admitted Wednesday the U.S. southern border is in a crisis.

“I do understand the challenges at the border, and I don’t dance around them,” he said during a House hearing on Homeland Security’s 2025 Fiscal Year budget. “I work every single day with the men and women in the Department of Homeland Security to only strengthen the security of our southern border, as well as the northern border.”

President Joe Biden disclosed in a Univision interview on Tuesday he is examining whether he has the authority to restrict migrants’ entry into the U.S. The president has considered utilizing Section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to block entry of immigrants deemed “detrimental” to national interests.

The White House has argued Congress would be able to deliver more effective results for addressing the border’s issues.

“There is no executive action that the president can take, no matter how aggressive it could be, that can deliver the significant policy reforms and additional resources that Congress could have provided that Republicans rejected,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in February.

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