Wild moment migrants lead Texas cops on high-speed chase before car catches FIRE and pair are arrested for human smuggling
Two migrants were caught on police dash cam leading Texas troopers on a wild, high-speed car chase in the middle of the night, at speeds of up to 100mph.
The heart-stopping footage sees officers with the Texas Department of Public Safety tailing the pair along a straight portion of a road along RM-334 in Kinney County, close to the Mexican border near Del Rio in Southwest Texas.
Police can be heard on the radio communicating with dispatch: ‘They’re not stopping!’ before saying the vehicle was driving at speeds ‘in excess of 100 mph.’
The migrants appear to show no sign of slowing down in their Toyota Camry as the pair attempt to evade law enforcement, before their car suddenly catches fire.
Two migrants led Texas troopers on a high-speed chase, reaching speeds of up to 100mph near the Mexican border in Southwest Texas
The heart-stopping dash cam footage captured the migrants evading law enforcement on RM-334 in Kinney County
Two men were arrested and have been charged with evading arrest and people smuggling
Their car is finally forced to pull over onto the shoulder of the road before the pair bailed and attempted to make a run for it.
Officers can then be heard yelling in both Spanish and English ordering the suspects to get on the ground.
Two other passengers in the car, both illegal immigrants who were being people smuggled, managed to race into the darkness evading the clutches of law enforcement.
The driver, later identified as Eduardo Jose Flores, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela who lives in Austin, was finally forced to stop once his car set ablaze.
The car only came to a halt after it set on fire forcing the driving to pull over onto the shoulder
Two people who had been smuggled into the back of the car made a run for it and ran off into the darkness
The driver and his passenger were caught by law enforcement and forced to lie on the ground
The driver was identified as Eduardo Jose Flores, left, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela. Right, Luis Alejandro Basabe, an illegal immigrant, also from Venezuela was a passenger in the car
Flores’ passenger was identified as Luis Alejandro Basabe, also an illegal immigrant, from Venezuela who resides in Austin, Texas.
The pair attempted to evade capture as they ran into the brush – but officers were too quick for them and managed to get them on the ground at gunpoint.
Both have since been charged with evading arrest and people smuggling.
‘The driver and passenger, both illegal immigrants from Venezuela were arrested. The illegal immigrants who were being smuggled fled on foot and were not located,’ police said in a statement.
Texas State Troopers walk towards a fence after migrants broke through razor wire to enter the US on Thursday
A migrant checks her bag after members of the Texas National Guard burnt clothing used by migrants to break through razor wire and a fence to enter the U.S. to surrender themselves
Such encounters are becoming more frequent. On Thursday, hundreds of migrants broke through razor wire at the wall in El Paso, Texas, overpowering border agents who had tried to push them away.
‘Hundreds of migrants were pushed south of the concertina wire in the middle of the night by Texas National Guard,’ the border snapper explained.
‘Hours later they again breached the concertina and made a rush for the border wall in El Paso, Texas.’
The migrants were already in the US as they had already crossed the international boundary, a few hundred yards south of the border wall.
Migrants breach infrastructure set up by the Texas National Guard on the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas on March 21, 2024
Migrants stand on infrastructure that was breached by migrants on the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas on March 21, 2024
Male migrants are escorted south behind a barrier by the Texas National Guard on the Rio Grande in El Paso, Texas on March 21, 2024
A migrant sits on a fence after a group of migrants forced their way by breaking through razor wire and a fence
Many of these asylum seeking migrants had chosen not to turn surrender themselves immediately because they were caught in limbo due a Texas law SB4.
The controversial law gives state and local police in the Lone Star State permission to arrest illegal immigrants, a right that has only been reserved for federal officers like US Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The law, which has been banned several times in recent days by federal courts, was then allowed to take effect for a few hours Tuesday, before it blocked again Tuesday night.
The legal whiplash left many migrants unsure would would happen to them if they turned themselves over to Border Patrol.
Tension had been building up for much of last week as the camp grew.
Known as ‘Gate 36’ this is popular give up spot for migrants seeking asylum in El Paso, Texas. Migrants regularly cross this area, look for Border Patrol and surrender to US authorities
Migrants camp out along concertina wire on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande on the day the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals hears oral arguments on Texas’ motion to lift a block on its SB4 immigration law that would allow state officials to arrest migrants suspected of being in the country illegally
Hundreds were camping out in the no-mans land between north of the river that separates the US and Mexico, the Rio Grande. The river is the international boundary, not the border wall.
On Wednesday night, the Texas National Guard rounded up hundreds of migrants and forced them south of the razor wire, which is still in US.
By Thursday morning, the migrants climbed over the wire fence in coordination and made a run for the border wall to presumably turn themselves in.
