HOUSTON, Texas — The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas has charged another 222 people, including 189 noncitizens, with immigration and border security-related crimes in cases filed from October 16 to October 23, the office announced in a release updated October 26.

Source: Texas Border Business, publishing the U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Texas

Of the new filings, 165 criminal complaints allege felony reentry after a prior removal, and another 24 people face charges of illegal entry. Prosecutors said most of those charged in the reentry and entry cases have prior felonies involving narcotics, violent crime or immigration offences. A further 23 people were charged with human smuggling — 11 of them noncitizens themselves — and the remaining five cases involve other immigration-related crimes, according to the office.

222people charged, Oct. 16–23
165felony-reentry complaints
23human-smuggling charges
43counties in the Southern District

The cases were referred or supported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations and Enforcement and Removal Operations, Border Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with help from state and local partners, the office said. They form part of Operation Take Back America, the Justice Department's nationwide enforcement initiative.

The batch continues a weekly pattern in the district: prosecutors charged 204 people in cases filed October 9–15 and 260 people in the first week of October, according to earlier Justice Department releases. The Southern District covers 43 counties and more than 10 million people across about 44,000 square miles, with assistant U.S. attorneys working from seven divisions — Houston, Galveston, Victoria, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen and Laredo.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Southern District of Texas release for Oct. 9–15 cases

An indictment or criminal complaint is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. Every defendant in these cases is presumed innocent unless and until convicted through due process of law.