A recent Department of Homeland Security intelligence report received by the Border Patrol instructs agents to look for Venezuelan inmates released from entering the U.S., according to a source within CBP. The report, reviewed by Breitbart Texas, indicates the Venezuelan government, under the leadership of Nicolás Maduro Moros, is purposely freeing inmates — including some convicted of murder, rape, and extortion.
The intelligence report warns agents the freed prisoners have been seen within migrant caravans traveling from Tapachula, Mexico toward the U.S.-Mexico border as recently as July. The source, not authorized to speak to the media, told Breitbart Texas the move is reminiscent of a similar action taken by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro during the Mariel boat lift in the 1980s.
The report does not state whether the released prison inmates were traveling as a cohesive group but does state it was commonly shared knowledge among migrants traveling to the United States within a caravan in July that many of the Venezuelan migrants in the group were convicts and included hardened criminals.
The report does not specify that the release of the convicts — understanding they would head to the United States — could be a purposeful geopolitical move specifically intended to impact U.S. national security. Another information gap cited in the report acknowledges the unknown role the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), Venezuela’s equivalent to the CIA, may have played in the deliberate releases.
The source says the task of identifying Venezuelans who have criminal records in their home country is nearly impossible. Of the thousands of Venezuelan migrants surrendering along the U.S.-Mexico border daily, most, according to the source, are being released into the United States. Without effective diplomatic relations with Venezuela, the source says access to criminal databases in that country simply does not exist.
“Unless we apprehend someone who voluntarily tells us they have committed a violent crime in Venezuela, we can only guess and that doesn’t work well,” the source told Breitbart. “They will more than likely be released.”
The source says it is unknown how many have already been released into the interior of the United States to pursue asylum.
According to CBP, between October 2021 and July 2022, more than 130,000 Venezuelan migrants have been encountered after entering the United States illegally. In all of Fiscal Year 2020, less than 5,000 were apprehended. This represents an increase of nearly 3,000 percent. In one Texas-based Border Patrol Sector, single groups of hundreds of mostly Venezuelan migrants enter the United States daily.
The report does not specify the location or destination of the released convicts. Frustrated by the increased number of migrant crossings along the southwest border, Republican governors from Texas and Florida began transporting migrants, mostly Venezuelans, to Washington D.C., New York City, and Chicago. Last week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis chartered flights for 50 mostly Venezuelan migrants from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard. The migrants were quickly shuttled from the wealthy island city by National Guard soldiers to nearby Joint Base Cape Cod.
Randy Clark is a 32-year veteran of the United States Border Patrol. Prior to his retirement, he served as the Division Chief for Law Enforcement Operations, directing operations for nine Border Patrol Stations within the Del Rio, Texas, Sector. Follow him on Twitter @RandyClarkBBTX.
