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Refugio County Sheriff said dealing with illegal immigration their new normal

Sheriff Gonzales said he does not expect the number of illegal immigrants being trafficked through Refugio County to slow down.

REFUGIO COUNTY, Texas — Refugio County Sheriff Pinky Gonzales said stopping illegal immigrants from crossing through their area has become the new normal.

It was just Monday when 11 immigrants were found in the back of an 18-wheeler near Woodsboro, Texas. 

Gonzales said when most people talk about illegal immigrants its only during a debate, but he sees the impact of illegal immigration firsthand all the time.

"We deal with this weekly," Gonzales said. "It doesn't have anything to do with politics."

One of his major concerns is the safety of both his officers who confront the immigrants and the immigrants themselves.

"A lot of times they'll haul them for sex slaves, labor slaves," Gonzales said. "A lot of times they're victims."

Other times, they are not. Deputy Joe Braman is in charge of the Refugio County Sheriff's Department's K-9 units. He said he has had to deploy his dogs to track immigrants more times than he can count. The latest incident resulted in his dog being stabbed.

"As we got up closer to the dog, we noticed that the dog's intestines were hanging, laying on the ground," Braman said. "So we lifted the dog up and cleaned it off and took it to get repaired."

Braman said the dog underwent surgery and has since recovered.

Sheriff Gonzales said he does not expect the number of illegal immigrants being trafficked through Refugio County to slow down, but wants to highlight the reality of the situation.

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