Criminals on border increasingly ignore federal authorities.
Human smugglers operating on the Mexico side of the U.S. border threatened journalists out documenting the current immigrant surge, all while continuing their illegal activities in plain sight.
On Thursday, journalists working with ABC affiliate KRGV Channel 5 News were on location in the border town of Roma, Texas, about 50 miles northwest of McAllen, where they spotted human traffickers brazenly carrying out their operations in broad daylight.
A CHANNEL 5 NEWS crew watched as the smugglers blew up rafts, took payments and sent men floating across the river.
The smugglers threatened the news crews.
Dozen of vehicles circled the river bank on the Mexican side all day. Many of the vehicles had Texas license plates.
Meanwhile, U.S. Border Patrol agents worked in vain on the U.S. side trying to keep up with the dozens of smuggling units going to and fro across the Rio Grande in Mexico, many of which had Texas license plates, KRGV reports.
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