McALLEN, Texas – A federal court in this border city dropped all charges against a Syrian woman and her brother in law, a U.S. Citizen, who were arrested as they attempted to enter the U.S. from Mexico.
As reported by Breitbart Texas, U.S. Customs and Border Protection arrested 27-year-old Walaa Alrehawi and her brother-in-law 46-year-old Mohammad Ziad Alzalam last week in the border city of Hidalgo on the charge of misusing a U.S. passport.
Court records obtained by Breitbart Texas revealed that Ziad traveled to Beirut, Lebanon, to pick up Alrehawi and the two allegedly used a U.S. passport belonging to Ziad’s wife to fly to Frankfurt, Germany. From there, the two flew to the Mexican resort town of Cancun and then made their way to the Mexican city of Reynosa, where they arrived at the international bridge and split up as Ziad tried to enter as a citizen while Alrehawi arrived trying to request asylum.
CBP officers had charged the two with misuse of a U.S. Passport, however, the very next day the U.S Attorney’s Office filed a motion to dismiss all charges “with prejudice” stating that the move came “in the interest of justice.”
On Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Dorina Ramos, who initially ordered Ziad and Alrehawi to be held without bond, granted the request to dismiss the charges and terminated all further hearings in the case.
Breitbart Texas was not able to determine the current immigration status of Alrehawi as far as if she had been granted asylum or if she will face deportation.
As reported in the past by Breitbart News, the out-of-control violence by terrorists in Syria has resulted in thousands of people fleeing the Middle Eastern country in an effort to get to Europe. The growing number of Syrian refugees has resulted in various riots as European authorities work to restore the peace as they try to provide aid.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.