(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) A teacher from Houston, Texas, was charged with four counts of human smuggling after he was caught near the U.S.-Mexico border with illegal immigrants in the back seat of his car.
Patrick Henry Middle School teacher Brandan Gracia was stopped by authorities for a traffic violation in the border town of Eagle Pass, Texas, where he was caught with four illegal migrants in the car, according to the Daily Caller. The Houston Federation of Teachers Union confirmed that Gracia is a current teacher.
“What we’re gathering is he was contacted on social media, wanted to make some quick money, came to the border, picked up at a pre-determined location and was headed back to Houston,” Kinney County Sheriff Brad Coe stated.
“The individuals were in the backseat laying down trying to conceal themselves.”
Coe also said that smugglers are often promised $1,000 to $5,000 per person they transport, but, in the end, usually never receive the money that was promised to them.
“He’s looking at state jail time. He could get up to six to eight years for all this. Best I can tell this is his first time,” Coe said.
“We are catching some that have no criminal history, never been in trouble before in their life, and they’ve hit a point in life where they think they need money bad enough that they’re going to try this. So we need to turn the economy around. We need to educate people, and we need to find the source.”
In March 2021, Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott launched a state initiative “Operation Lone Star” to fight border issues, such as smuggling. So far, the initiative is successful. The Texas government reported that “Operation Lone Star” has resulted in more than 336,000 migrant apprehensions, more than 23,000 criminal arrests, with more than 20,000 felony charges.
