2025 Alien Smuggling Defense in South Texas.

Alien smuggling charges in Texas cause problems for both defendants and prosecutors. For example, if police arrest you for a smuggling crime, then you may lose your job or go to jail. Similarly, they cause problems for prosecutors because they have to prove you are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. And this is not easy to do in every case.

For instance, in many cases, the prosecutor will not have a problem proving you are guilty of an alien smuggling charge in Texas. When this happens, then taking a plea deal may be the way to go. But what happens if prosecutors have a problem with their case? Or stated differently, what are the most common problems for both the Government and the defense that you should be aware of before you decide to take a plea deal in a smuggling case.

This post will answer this question. We will also walk you through points to consider before making the ultimate choice: Should I take a plea deal or go to trial on an alien smuggling charge in 2025?

How Prosecutors prove Criminal Intent in Alien Smuggling Crimes.

In every case, the prosecutor must prove elements–or a set of facts–that add up to a crime. To illustrate, the prosecutor must prove the following facts to convict a person of transporting aliens under 8 USC 1324:

  1. On January 20, 2025;
  2. In a specific location, i.e., Uvalde, Kinney, Edwards, or Val Verde County, Texas;
  3. Person X;
  4. Drove migrants in his or her car knowing the passengers were undocumented migrants; and
  5. Acted with intent to further the migrants’ unlawful presence in the country.

In a majority of these types of cases, the main issue1 prosecutors and defense lawyers fight about is criminal intent. In other words, what did the defendant know? And what did the defendant intend?

To prove this, prosecutors frequently rely on three different types of evidence:

  1. Cellphone texts2 (often WhatsApp), voicemails, and videos;
  2. Confessions; and
  3. Statements from cooperating witnesses.

The first two types of evidence are strong proof that you had the criminal intent to break the law. That is because it is your own words, texts, and videos showing that you knew what was going on and you intended to take part in the deal.

But suppose police do not have your cellphone evidence? Further, assume that you asked for a lawyer and did not make any statements. Then how do prosecutors prove you intended to smuggle migrants? Then prosecutors will likely use a cooperating defendant (a snitch), circumstantial evidence, or both.

Namely, this fact pattern gives you a clean defense. Critically, a skilled lawyer can challenge the snitch’s credibility and use the circumstantial evidence to show it proves your innocence, not your guilt. But you have to analyze this type of case correctly before you ask for a jury trial.

Problems for Prosecutors in Alien Smuggling cases.

In every case, prosecutors must show that police did everything by the book. As an example, they must show police had a reason to stop your car. In addition, they have to prove police had probable cause to arrest you. And if they want to offer evidence from your cellphone at trial, they must show that you either consented to the search of your phone, or that they got a warrant to search it.3

On top of that, if the prosecutor wants to offer your confession at trial to the jury, then they must prove they read you your Miranda rights before they asked you any questions after you are arrested. This issue is tricky because it is not always clear when you are in “police custody.”4 This grey area can often create problems for the Government.

Strikingly, if they cannot show police did these things by the book, then you can ask the judge to kick this evidence out. In sum, this is a key part of your criminal defense. Look for problems in the Government’s case, and then amplify them.

Problems for Defendants in Alien Smuggling cases.

There are three common problems for defendants facing alien-smuggling charges in Texas. They are summarized as bad facts that will push your jail time up. These facts are:

  1. Putting migrants in the trunk of the car, overloading the car, or putting migrants in hidden compartments;
  2. Getting into a high-speed chase with police; and
  3. Having a gun during the crime.

The common theme with these facts is danger. And they come into play at your sentencing hearing. Specifically, this added danger causes many judges to give defendants higher jail terms for 8 USC 1324 crimes.

In short, if any of these facts are part of your case, then talk to your lawyer about how they may affect your jail time before you decide to take a plea deal. Otherwise, you may be shocked by a high jail term at sentencing.

Bottom Line on Alien Smuggling Charges in Texas in 2025.

There is no silver bullet to defending against an alien smuggling charge in Texas. But there is an approach you can take to help you decide the best course of action in your case. And it starts with looking at the basics of an 8 USC 1324 charge that we talked about above.

In addition, rarely will a motion to suppress get your case completely dismissed. It is great when it happens. But unfortunately, it does not happen often enough. Instead, your goal should be to chip away at the government’s case before trial by looking at the known problems prosecutors have in these cases. By kicking out as much of the evidence as possible from the Government’s case-in-chief, this will help your odds of winning if you take your case to trial.

Finally, starting on January 20, 2025, DOJ started cracking down on alien smuggling crimes in Texas. As a result, they are filing more alien smuggling charges in Texas. Of major interest, the feds are also filing weaker cases to push up their numbers and conviction rates. An experienced trial lawyer can help protect your rights by reviewing your case to make sure the system treats you fairly.

Alien Smuggling Attorney Genaro R. Cortez. Phone: 210-733-7575.

  1. One exception is when police do not find any migrants in the car. This happens when the migrants bail out or when two or more cars are driving in a lead-load formation. In this scenario, you not only fight the criminal intent part of the crime, but you also argue there were no migrants in the car to begin with.

    In short, missing migrants can be a problem for prosecutors. But they do not need to prove or show you actually drove migrants to prove you are guilty. This occurs when prosecutors charge you with conspiracy to transport aliens. In this event, they only need to show you entered into a deal with at least one other person to do this crime.

    This is one of the reasons prosecutors file two-count alien-smuggling charges in Texas. One count is conspiracy to transport. The other count is actual transportation. This gives prosecutors flexibility to prove up their case.
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  2. Cellphone evidence in alien-smuggling cases is the digital equivalent of DNA evidence in murder and rape cases. With the cellphone evidence, police can see where you picked up the migrants, who you were talking to, and what you were talking about.
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  3. The Supreme Court issued two really useful opinions that discuss cellphone searches. They include Riley v. California, 573 U.S. 373 (2014) and Carpenter v. United States, 585 U.S. 296 (2018).
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  4. Normally, police can ask you questions during a traffic stop. This happens all the time. As an example, if police stop you for speeding, they can ask you where you were coming from and where are you going. They can also ask you for your driver’s license and proof of insurance.

    But sometimes a traffic stop can turn into an arrest. If during the traffic stop, police find probable cause that you are transporting aliens, then the traffic stop will turn into an arrest. But when this point on a timeline happens will vary from case to case. This may cause a legal problem for the State because they may not read you your rights before they ask you questions.
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