(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The Justice Department has released text messages between Ryan Routh and an alleged human trafficker in Mexico about smuggling Afghans into the U.S. last year—arguing that such evidence should be presented to a jury as part of Routh’s larger plans to assassinate Donald Trump last September.
The DOJ included the text messages in a Monday court filing, responding to Routh’s motion to suppress evidence of his human smuggling activities. According to Routh’s attorneys, Routh’s discussions with a Mexican smuggler identified as “Ramiro” have nothing to do with the DOJ’s case against him. Those discussions occurred in February 2024, about seven months before his alleged attempt on Trump.
The DOJ said on Monday that the February 2024 text messages would provide crucial context for a jury about how Routh planned to flee the country of his attempt on Trump were successful.
“The February chats show that Routh intentionally sought out a professional smuggler who specialized in clandestine migrant crossings as part of his plan to flee the United States post-assassination,” DOJ lawyers argued. “The point here is that Ramiro is the human smuggler, and that Routh appealed to Ramiro in hatching his (Routh’s) escape plan. The February and September communications should, therefore, be admitted in their entirety as direct evidence of the Defendant’s guilt.”
The text messages released by the DOJ reveal new information about Routh’s dealings with Ramiro. According to the texts, Routh first contacted Ramiro about the matter on Feb. 25, 2024. The two apparently already knew each other, as Routh identified himself as the owner of his old construction company, United Roofing, and said he was now living in Hawaii.
🚨NEW: Last night, the DOJ released texts between Ryan Routh and the Mexican human smuggler about smuggling Afghans into the U.S.
These texts show that the smuggler was going to drop the Afghans off at the border and have them apply for asylum. They even discussed the possibility… https://t.co/NsTcf8uzWJ pic.twitter.com/eoqsquchgs— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) April 29, 2025
Routh asked Ramiro to take the Afghans—a husband and four women in his family—to the border near Eagle Pass, Texas. From there, the Afghans would apply for asylum and be admitted into the country under then-President Joe Biden’s open borders policy.
According to the texts, the Afghans had first made their way to Brazil before going up to Mexico. They spoke neither Spanish nor English, using Google Translate to communicate.
“It is my understanding that they will be allowed to cross at Eagle Pass and be given a court date for an asylum case in the years to come, and be allowed to enter the U.S.,” Routh texted to Ramiro, to which the smuggler responded: “Let me ask more about it. If they get in the asylum program they could probably even go in airplane, but let me get more information.”
However, the deal seems to have fallen apart when Ramiro asked for $1,800 a person to take the Afghans to the border.
“That is 9000 dollar dude, that is crazy,” Routh texted on Feb. 29, 2024.
According to the DOJ, Routh and Ramiro didn’t text again until last September, when Routh was getting ready to assassinate Trump.
Routh’s defense attorneys have argued that they’re OK with the DOJ presenting evidence of their client’s communications with Ramiro from last September—but not from earlier that year. It’s unclear when Judge Aileen Cannon will rule on the matter. The parties are set to meet for a status conference on May 14.
Routh’s trial is set for September.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
