EL PASO, Texas (KFOX) — The Texas Department of Public Safety's West Texas Regional office distributed a lineup of photos showing people who were arrested in the El Paso area for human smuggling between April 19 and May 16.
The agency said the following people were arrested in connection to Operation Lone Star:
- Kevin Aguilar
- Pedro Alavez
- Ernesto Avitia
- Sergio Caldera
- Juan Calderon-Santana
- Carlos Castro
- Daniel Contreras
- Antonio Duarte
- Francisco Escarfullery
- Ever Favela
- Edgar Fernandez
- Douglas Fields
- Abraham Garcia
- Juan Hernandez
- Isai Holguin
- Ricardo Holguin
- Josue Machado
- Tovar Macias
- Ruben Martinez
- Jaime Mendez
- Luis Nunez
- Edgar Orozco
- Ruben Pacheco
- Edgar Palma
- Werner Ralda
- Juaquin Rios
- Manuel Segobia
- Oscar Sifuentes
- Hector Silva
- Marco Solis
- Edgar Torres
- Paul Tofoya
- Fernie Villescas
A University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll recently released found immigration and border security are the most important issues for the largest share of Texans.
Nearly 40% cited immigration and border security as their top concerns, including more than 60% of Republicans and 40% of independents.
Even a growing share of Democrats are seeing immigration and border security as a problem. Just 13% of Democrats cited those as top concerns in the April poll, but that share has been as low as 1% and 2% at multiple points within the last four years.
“At the state level, nothing competes with immigration and border security, particularly among Republicans,” James Henson, executive director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, said Thursday.
Authorities urged anyone who sees signs of human smuggling or other criminal activity, including stash houses, to call the Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-252-TIPS (8477).
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EDITOR'S NOTE: The National Desk contributed to this report.
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