Mexican National Busted After Illegally Crossing Border–From Canada

A Mexican woman was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents after entering the United States illegally from Canada. A Canadian citizen was also arrested for allegedly helping smuggle the woman across the border.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers became suspicious of a Canadian citizen who was crossing the border at the Port of Mooers, New York, port of entry. Lukasz Kabata, 20, was crossing from Canada into New York by himself. Officers conducting a secondary inspection observed a large number of women’s clothes and another person’s immigration documents in the vehicle and became suspicious.

A tip from a citizen was referred to Border Patrol agents who found Johan Lizeth Lopez-Suceda, 18, about a mile from the port of entry. The agents determined she had crossed the border without inspection and was traveling with Kabata.

The arrest of the two individuals illustrates the teamwork between the two federal agencies that is necessary to help secure our borders. “The Border Patrol mission to secure the border between the Ports of Entry cannot be accomplished without integrating our operations with our Customs and Border Protection partners as well as with the border community. This arrest exemplifies the team approach to border security that is necessary to be successful,” said Patrol Agent in Charge Norman Lague of the Champlain Border Patrol Station.

Area Port of Champlain Acting Port Director Don Yando added, “CBP officers are trained to detect the signs of human smuggling. The arrest and apprehension is an excellent example of the vigilance of our officers, and outstanding teamwork with Border Patrol to secure our border.”

Breitbart Texas’ Lana Shadwick reported in July that Canada and Mexico had reached an agreement whereby Mexican citizens can travel to Canada without obtaining a visa. Jessica Vaughn, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies told Shadwick, “Canada will now become even more of a launching point for illegal entry into the United States.”

She said the opportunity to enter from Canada “could be enticing because some parts of our southern border have been hardened and are now very difficult to cross without being detected.”

Vaughn said entering through Canada would be especially of interest to “those Mexicans who have been deported already from the United States, or anyone who fraudulently obtains a Mexican passport, might seek to enter the United States illegally from Canada across our largely unguarded northern border.”

“It will be interesting to see if Canada develops an overstay problem with Mexicans, or if there develops a new stream of entry to the U.S. across the northern border,” Vaughn continued. “This could mean that we will need to bolster our border security efforts on the northern border as well as the southern border.”

In this case, Kabata was arrested and charged with human smuggling. Lopez-Suceda was charged with illegal entry without inspection. No report was made as to whether Lopez-Suceda will be deported back to Mexico, Canada, or not at all.

Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.