Federal agents filed 212 new border cases in one week. The cases cover South Texas. That area runs from Houston down to the Rio Grande Valley. It goes west to Laredo too. Two new cases hit close to home. Agents caught two men near Roma. They caught a third man near Mission.

The U.S. Attorney's Office shared the news on September 13. The cases cover September 4 through September 10. In all, 218 people face charges in the 212 cases.

The cases are part of a bigger push. It is called Take Back America. It is a plan by the Justice Department. The plan covers the whole country. The goal is more charges at the border.

Here is how the new cases break down. Agents charged 21 people with smuggling people. Nine of those 21 have no legal status here. Agents filed 36 cases for illegal entry. Those are people caught crossing with no papers for the first time. Agents filed 150 cases for illegal reentry. Reentry means a person got sent home before. Then they crossed the border again. That alone breaks the law. Five more cases cover other border crimes.

Most of these people have old criminal records, the release said. It read: "Most of those individuals have prior felonies related to narcotics, violent crime, immigration offenses, and more."

Two new cases hit right here in Starr County. Agents caught Jose Yojcom-Rocche near Roma. They also caught Antonio Rubio-Zuniga near Roma. Both men got sent home before. Both came back anyway. Yojcom-Rocche has an old case for a sex crime on a child. Rubio-Zuniga has an old case for armed robbery. Both men face new reentry charges now.

Agents also caught Arben Cima near Mission. Mission sits in Hidalgo County. Cima comes from Albania. He got sent home on March 12, 2022. He came back into the U.S. anyway. He has an old case for holding heroin to sell.

The release also looked back at a closed case. Erik Guadalupe Ibarra Venegas is from Mexico. He got 16 months in prison. He had a gun while living here on an expired visa. El Tejano told that story first, when he got his time. Read it here: https://www.eltejanorgv.com/man-living-here-on-an-expired-visa-gets-prison-time-for-a-gun/

This is not the first big count from this office. The week before, agents filed 239 border cases. That ran from August 28 through September 3. That report said the Valley led the list too. El Tejano told that story too. Read it here: https://www.eltejanorgv.com/239-more-border-cases-filed-in-one-week-and-the-valley-leads-the-list/

The Southern District of Texas is huge. It spans 43 counties. More than 10 million people live there. It covers 44,000 square miles. The district has seven court zones. Two sit right in the Valley: McAllen and Brownsville. A third sits in Laredo.

Reentry and smuggling cases carry stiff terms. A person can get up to 20 years in prison if a jury or judge finds them guilty. It depends on their past record and the exact charge.

Many agencies worked these cases. That list has ICE, Border Patrol, the DEA, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals, and the ATF. State and local police helped too.

Everyone is presumed innocent until proved otherwise.