Illegal Crossing

This scenario began to unfold while our photography group visited Anzalduas park in Mission, TX a few days ago.

I was taking photos of egrets and pelicans in the river just below the dam on the Rio Grande River when I noticed a group of people emerge from the woods on the other side.

 

A man began to prepare an inflatable raft and I began to realize what was going on.

The coyote carried the raft to the river...

...as soon as it was in the water, six people scrambled down the river bank, boarded and began their trip across the river.

A few minutes later this group of four women and two children were sauntering up the road toward the dike that intersects the park.

To me, this seemed to be a very strange crossing. Four women, two children illegally entering the U.S. in broad daylight, within view of the dam where people are working and surveillance cameras continually watching. They casually stroll down the road as if it's a regular commute.

They trek to the top of the dike and stroll about a hundred yards when one of the women waves to the constable who will detain the group.

During the entire episode there was no sense of urgency, concern or furtiveness displayed by any member of the group. The constable had no probable cause to detain them, he hadn't witnessed the crossing, they could have been American tourists, like me, exploring the park.

In addition, the Border Patrol, and the Texas State Highway Patrol were conducting some kind of joint exercise during the day. Earlier the constable told us the park would be closed at noon, presumably because of those exercises.

So, why would this group of women and children pay a Coyote to smuggle them across the river, nonchalantly cross as if they belonged here and then casually walk into the arms waiting law enforcement? If normal procedure was followed they would have been escorted to a port of entry and deposited back into Mexico before lunch.