A Mexican national living in New York pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to transport a group of Mexican migrants who had just crossed the border from Canada into Vermont. Border Patrol agents found the man in an area near the border where six Mexican nationals had just been apprehended.
Antonio Alvarez, a 45-year-old Mexican national living in New York City, entered a plea of not guilty before a federal magistrate judge in Burlington, Vermont. Alvarez faces charges related to an alleged attempted human smuggling scheme where he is reported to have been paid to transport six migrants from an area near the Canadian border.
Court records obtained by Breitbart Texas allege that on the night of November 7, Border Patrol agents conducting static surveillance of the woods along the Canadian border near Derby Line, Vermont, observed a group of six suspected migrants walking away from the border. The agents became suspicious of the subjects due to clothing that was “not normal for local Vermonters” but is common for migrants who illegally cross the border.
The agents made contact and identified the six individuals as migrants who crossed the border without inspection and placed them into custody.
A supervisory Border Patrol agent responding to the scene observed a white Toyota Tacoma driving slowly in the area. The agent observed suspicious driving behaviors consistent with someone involved in trying to pick up migrants. The agent conducted a traffic stop and identified Alvarez as the driver. Alvarez presented a valid New York driver’s license and a work authorization immigration card.
Inconsistencies in the man’s story about why he was in the area and his alleged immigration led the agent to take Alvarez into custody for an interview, the criminal complaint states.
During the interview, Alvarez admitted to being paid $2,000 to transport the smuggled aliens, the complaint alleges. He claimed to be paid by a man named “Omar” whose cell phone number appeared in Alvarez’s phone and the phones of the migrants being smuggled.
Further, he allegedly admitted to have attempted to carry out a prior human smuggling effort in June. He said he was to pick up migrants in Champlain, New York, but became nervous and turned around before picking up the load.
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont stated that Alvarez is already in immigration removal proceedings.
If convicted on the current charges, Alvarez could fae up to five years in federal prison.
Border Patrol officials in the Swanton Sector report a marked increase in the apprehension of migrants crossing the border from Canada without authorization, Breitbart Texas reported.
The Swanton Sector is normally a slow sector with an average of about 40 migrant apprehensions per month, according to officials reports from U.S. Customs and Border Protection reviewed by Breitbart Texas. However, in March 2022, that number began to creep up from 40 in February to 236 in September.
Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia tweeted a report showing that agents in his sector apprehended 334 migrants in October from 19 different countries. This represents an increase of 676 percent over October 2021. This was the eighth straight month of increasing migrant apprehensions.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior news contributor for the Breitbart Texas-Border team. He is an original member of the Breitbart Texas team. Price is a regular panelist on Fox 26 Houston’s What’s Your Point? Sunday-morning talk show. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX and Face
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