CBP Finds Dozens of Migrants Hiding in Tractor Trailer As Apprehensions Rise Before Trump Takes Office

U.S. Border Patrol agents in the El Paso Sector discovered 37 undocumented migrants hiding inside a tractor-trailer at the Interstate-25 checkpoint on Sunday, CBP informed. The migrants were found during a routine inspection after agents heard movement from the rear of the trailer. Upon further investigation they spotted individuals attempting to hide behind freight.

The migrants hail from different countries, including Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba, El Salvador, and Ecuador. They were taken into custody and transported to the Central Processing Center.

The episode is far from isolated. In fiscal year 2024 El Paso Sector agents disrupted 24 tractor-trailer smuggling events, leading to the apprehension of 387 migrants. So far in fiscal year 2025, four significant smuggling operations have been intercepted, resulting in the detention of 97 migrants.

The El Paso Sector frequently encounters smuggling operations by transnational criminal organizations, which often use commercial vehicles to hide large groups of migrants. These methods pose serious risks to the migrants' safety, as they are often packed into confined spaces without proper safety measures like seat belts or ventilation. In extreme cases, these vehicles expose migrants to dangerous temperatures, including the heat of summer and freezing winter conditions.

"El Paso Sector Chief Anthony Scott Good highlighted the dangers of smuggling operations, saying, 'Smuggling organizations exploit migrants with false promises of safe passage and easy entry, but illegal entry into the United States often involves tactics that not only violate U.S. immigration laws but also endanger lives,'" the Border Patrol said.

As Donald Trump's second term looms, with it the prospect of mass deportations and closed borders for those seeking entry, Homeland Security is currently expecting a rise in crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border. In fact, the Rio Grande Valley sector reported 1,276 migrant arrests over the past weekend, a sharp increase from the 400 to 600 weekly apprehensions seen in recent months, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Chief Patrol Agent Gloria I. Chavez.

The arrests included migrants from eight countries, alongside 13 human smuggling cases and six narcotics seizures. Chavez noted this was the highest weekend total for the sector since December 2023.

This month, five Guatemalan nationals accused of being part of a human smuggling network called "Los Quinos" have been charged in the United States in connection with a 2021 truck crash in Chiapas, Mexico, in which 56 migrants were killed and over 100 others were injured.

A month earlier, authorities in Chihuahua seized a semi-truck transporting 257 migrants from various countries and headed to the U.S. border. The truck, a double trailer, was stopped at a military checkpoint, where soldiers opened the locked trailer doors and found the migrants, including at least 50 children. All of them were confined in tight spaces.

"The message is that human smuggling is very dangerous. If you or a family member are thinking of having a family member smuggled into the U.S., think again," said Mark Lippa, deputy special agent in charge at Homeland Security Investigations, after U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents rescued 17 migrants from a locked tractor-trailer in July.