'I didn't think anything of it': Lawmakers talk complexities of human smuggling penalties

When Nathan Perrow received a message in 2021 from someone offering to fill his gas tank and pay him $1,200 in exchange for a ride, Perrow was happy to accept the opportunity.

He never thought the situation would result in his arrest on six counts of human smuggling.

Telling his story to the House State Affairs Committee on Monday, Perrow hoped to warn lawmakers about the potential harm of passing Senate Bill 4, which seeks to increase the mandatory minimum sentence for human smuggling and operating a stash house to 10 years prison.

"I didn't think anything of it. I just thought I was going to give them a ride and that I was going to get paid," Perrow testified.

Perrow's story is emblematic of a broader struggle lawmakers face in attempting to further criminalize human smuggling in response to an immigration influx at the country's southern border.

As Republicans and some Democrats are pushing to increase penalties in hopes of deterring smuggling attempts, opponents of the heightened mandatory penalties argue that those already inside the United States without legal status and those who often offer rides to undocumented people to church, the grocery store and the doctor's office could face life-altering penalties based on a traffic violation.

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An additional wrinkle in the equation is that people who are being charged with human smuggling are often American citizens, unaware that they have been recruited to commit a crime on behalf of a human smuggling operation.

Perrow had just graduated from high school when he received the message on Snapchat from the group seeking a ride. When he arrived at the pickup location to meet his passengers, no one was there. He was promptly arrested and charged with human smuggling, spending three months in jail before his release.

“If it (SB 4) was in place when I was accused, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to better my life," Perrow, who is working to complete an advance trade school program, told the American-Statesman. "When I was in (jail), there were other guys my age in there for the same thing, just trying to make some money, and I’m just grateful I got to get out and better my life because some of them didn’t."

SB 4 would escalate the punishment for human smuggling to at least a third-degree felony with a 10-year minimum. Those penalties are matched with a minimum third-degree felony charge and 10-year sentence for operating a "stash house," where people who have been smuggled into the country are held, often against their will.

Penalties could increase further in severity if other crimes occur during the event in question, although for those who agree to cooperate with law enforcement, a maximum five-year sentence is possible under the bill.

"Smugglers not only take advantage of the smuggled individuals," said Rep. Ryan Guillen, R-Rio Grande City, the bill's House sponsor. "But their conduct of smuggling endangers everyday Texans."

Kristin Etter, an attorney with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, said that situations similar to Perrow's are common examples of how human smuggling operations work to recruit young people without criminal records through social media.

"Do the people that end up getting arrested for this have any connection to the cartels? Almost universally, no," Etter said.

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Etter testified before the committee that, since 2021, the organization has received referrals for more than 3,000 human smuggling cases, many involving instances similar to Perrow's in which young people are recruited to transport migrants.

"We'll target thousands of people like Nathan and others just like him who, again, are young Texans that get involved in this for economic reason and don't understand the serious repercussions," Etter said of the bill.

A vote on the bill, which passed with broad support from the Senate and is expected to pass the State Affairs Committee, had not been taken up as of 3 p.m. as the committee broke to attend a House floor session.

As the lawmakers left for the House floor, testimony had started on SB 11, which authorizes state law enforcement officers to arrest and prosecute anyone who illegally crosses the border anywhere outside a port of entry. Penalties could range from a Class A misdemeanor to a possible state felony or second-degree felony, depending on whether there were prior attempts to improperly enter the country and the person's criminal record.

Throughout the morning, the committee discussed many frustrations in the current situation at the border and the ways in which the state's hands are tied as enforcing immigration laws is the job of the federal government.

Other concerns continued to crop up about the possibility for the state's jails to be overrun with new inmates on account of the increased penalties for smuggling and illegal entry into the country, which could cost hundreds of millions of dollars in additional expenses.

Rep. Richard Peña Raymond, D-Laredo, also argued throughout the meeting that current border policies act as incentives for people to cross the border, and that businesses that are hiring undocumented workers are further contributing to people's decision to cross the border into Texas.

"That's why they come," Peña Raymond said. "If there weren't jobs, they probably wouldn't come. Most of them wouldn't come and say 'asylum.’ ”