Chinese Nationals Apprehended in Texas Border Operation
The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) reported that six Chinese nationals were among approximately two dozen undocumented immigrants detained after being discovered on private ranches in Maverick County.
According to Lieutenant Chris Olivarez, a spokesperson for the Texas DPS’s South Texas Region, the team, which included tracking K-9 Bona and her handler, worked alongside U.S. Border Patrol to locate and apprehend the individuals on the ranch.
“Operation Lone Star continues relentlessly to detain illegal immigrants along our border. Last night, Texas DPS aided in tracking and capturing Special Interest Aliens from China attempting to evade law enforcement on these ranches,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas) posted on X on Wednesday.
Governor Abbott initiated this state-led border security operation on March 6, 2021, expressing concerns about the perceived lenient border enforcement under the Biden administration. The operation mobilized personnel from the DPS and Texas National Guard to support local law enforcement in securing Texas’s border with Mexico.
The immigrants in question were identified as “special interest aliens” (SIAs), a term defined by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) as individuals who, based on specific travel patterns, are considered to potentially pose a national security risk to the United States.
Recent reports from Texas DPS indicated that several cases involving Chinese nationals illegally crossing the border have emerged in the South Texas region.
For example, on January 30th, DPS troopers stopped a gray Toyota Camry on U.S. Highway 277 in Maverick County and found four individuals being smuggled, including a special interest alien from China named Beibei Liu.
Then, on May 5th, U.S. Border Patrol and a DPS Brush Team apprehended six individuals in multiple incidents in the Roma area of Starr County, with another being identified as a Chinese SIA.
“These arrests underscore our ongoing efforts to deter criminal activity along the southern border and the vital collaboration between Texas DPS and our federal counterparts under Operation Lone Star. Border security ultimately equates to national security,” said Olivarez.
Maverick County, located in the northwestern Rio Grande plain region of southwest Texas, has lately become a hotspot for border enforcement.
DHS statistics reveal that in the Del Rio Sector, which includes Maverick County, there have been significant reductions in the number of illegal immigrant encounters and known “gotaways,” with decreases of 89.6% and 90.7%, respectively, in fiscal year 2026. The DHS under the Trump administration has maintained a strong emphasis on strict enforcement and rigorous vetting for people from countries deemed special interest.
