In Texas, they throw people in jail for that .... do a google search on Classic Restorations.
I am an attorney who does importing and exporting of vehicles. This is not a treatise on how to get a car into the US - merely a few of the high points/low points.
That Texas sticker is likely just something that Border patrol likely forced the driver to get to drive it in Texas. Basically it's a "you won't kill us with an unsafe vehicle" sticker. We get these all the time in the north - person thinks "oh, if I get it across the border, it'll be fine." No.... simply no.
Your first step should be Texas licensing, followed by a quick trip to the Rangers. If there isn't a theft record, find out what country it came from and see if its reported stolen there. IF that checks out, you can buy the vehicle and not be in possession of stolen property.
Put the vehicle on your trailer and haul it home. Then take it all apart. Check the vin number matches the frame, cab, and motor. If it doesn't. Seriously, scrap it - by the time you pay me 10k to get the car legally in the US, you'll say "I could buy a licensed one for half..." well, duh. But let's say you won the lottery and wonder how to make it a US vehicle.
Fortunately, it's likely that some or all of it is more then 25 years old. My first step would be to bond the vehicle against any claims against the vehicle. I'd then contact customs to legally import the vehicle while it's in place at your house. They may demand it be put in a bonded warehouse for the pendency of the application. That costs about $10/day and the process takes a minimum of 90 days and can take years (I know of one car that's been in bonding for 15 years and will likely never leave except as scrap.
Once Customs has us all protected (sarcasm intended) from that terrible FJ45, they send a request to whatever 3rd world country the vehicle came from (yeah, again) and asks if it's stolen. Depending on the lateness of the day and the sobriety of the customs official in the foreign country that may turn out okay (remember 15 years?). But let's say he's feeling gracious (FCO) and he says "it's all bueno"... excellent, now you need an export certificate from that country to ours. Another round of letters are sent to the official in charge of export certificates, bribes paid (errr, taxes), and you're good to go. At this point the bleeding is about 5k to 10k. Then you get another inspection here. Oh wait, a number isn't reading right on motor or it "looks" tampered with. So we go to exceptions. Remember, it's costing you 10/day until you give up.
But let's say all is fine and finally you get US customs clearing (and I've jumped a few steps) - and you now have it home, hopefully with all the parts still attached. Now you get to fight with Texas and their rules.
Seriously, part it out and whatever you do, unless you have a damn good criminal attorney - don't vin swap. Our border patrol is pretty poor at one part of their job, but oh my goodness are they thorough on keeping those terrible imports out of our country... they will x-ray your frame if they even have a hint that it's swapped - not only that but they go online and see if they can catch those smart people who think they can outsmart the cops....
