POCATELLO — Ten Idaho State Police troopers recently returned from a three-week mission down to the United States and Mexico border in Texas, receiving training with a focus on human trafficking.

Back in April, Gov. Brad Little sent two teams down to the border to assist the Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to enhance the Idaho State Police troopers’ knowledge of recognizing human trafficking and how to better curb illicit drug trade and other illegal activities.

One ISP trooper who volunteered for the excursion down to Texas, Tyler Scheierman, discussed his time spent on the border and how he’s relaying the training he received to other officers locally.

“The majority of our time was spent just on the border wall assisting the Texas DPS and the National Guard,” Scheierman said. “We just assisted with any illegal crossings. We did have a couple of days where we rode with their unmarked units where they would spot out cars that were loaded up with illegal immigrants. We would conduct traffic stops on the cars, arrest (the occupants) and turn them over to border patrol for illegal entry into the United States.”

Scheierman continued, “It was good to go down and see just actually how bad it is on the border and how much help that Texas actually needs from the higher up government and federal government to actually be able to do their jobs to secure the border.”

Part of what was taught to the ISP troopers was how to notice small, subtle details that they can utilize to determine the potential for human trafficking.

“(Noticing) the different tags on cars, (observing the) suspension on vehicles that are heavy because there’s so many bodies inside of it, stuff like that,” Scheierman said. “We don’t really have to pay too close attention to that here where we’re doing mostly drug interdiction. We don’t really look at that kind of stuff. So those tactics over there are good to see.”

The trooper’s return is punctuated by President Joe Biden’s recent proclamation that would bar migrants from being granted asylum when U.S. officials deem that the southern border is overwhelmed. He benchmarked that number at 2,500 per day for border encounters. Due to the high levels of immigrants attempting to seek asylum, Biden’s proclamation took effect immediately.

Now, migrants that come to the border but do not fear for their lives if turned away will be subject to harsher penalties, facing punishments that could include a five-year ban from reentering the United States among other criminal proceedings. Those that do have concerns that harm will befall them upon a return to their country will have more opportunity for screenings, but those standards could become more restrictive now with Biden’s proclamation.

“I’m supportive of immigrating to the United States for a better life,” Scheierman said. “I just feel like you have to use the proper channels and the legal way of doing it and I’m all for coming over here just to do it the proper way.”