Between 2009 and 2014, More Than 18,000 Individuals Charged
With Human Smuggling by Federal Prosecutors
The Justice Department is committed to using its resources
to bring to justice those that are breaking the law by smuggling migrants into
the United States. In Fiscal Year 2014
(FY14, Oct. 1, 2013, up to Sept. 30, 2014), the Justice Department filed
criminal charges against 2,762 individuals for human smuggling or harboring
immigrants. Nearly 90 percent of the
criminal charges filed in FY14 for smuggling took place in Texas (1,515),
California (511), Arizona (394), Florida (75) and New York (31). The announcement of these actions is just one
part of ongoing, collaborative efforts to tackle unlawful migration. These efforts also helped to address last
year’s influx of Central American migrants, including unaccompanied children
and families crossing into the Rio Grande Valley, and demonstrate a continued
commitment to dismantling human smuggling operations that put so many lives at
risk.
Individuals that facilitate smuggling acts need to be aware
that they face criminal prosecution and fines.
They also need to be aware of the dangers faced by the individuals that
are being smuggled and also that the Department of Justice will seek forfeiture
of funds transferred to others in connection with a smuggling crime. In addition, individuals trying to bring a
family member to the United States by transferring funds to a coyote should be
aware that those acts are against the law and their funds can be seized by the
federal government.
The penalty for human smuggling if done for commercial
benefit is up to 10 years in prison and an accompanying fine. For example, in January, Ruth Fernandez
Morales-Lopez pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Hilda G. Tagle of the
Southern District of Texas to bringing in and harboring aliens and money
laundering. Morales-Lopez admitted that
she was the person who decided, based on whether they paid their smuggling fees,
which individuals could stay at the “stash house,” located in San Benito,
Texas. She further admitted that more
than $1 million in her bank account was comprised of smuggling fees and that
she structured her withdrawals from that account to circumvent the Bank Secrecy
Act. Morales-Lopez faces up to 10 years
in federal prison for the smuggling charge and up to 20 years for money
laundering. The remaining five
defendants in the case, all of whom pleaded guilty, each face up to 10 years of
federal imprisonment.
Many of the stories revealed in court cases outline the
severe examples of exploitation and violence against migrants. For example, in April 2014, a federal jury in
Del Rio, Texas, convicted Eduardo Rocha Sr., 44, for his role in a human smuggling
ring operation in Carrizo Springs, Texas, known for torturing its victims and
exploiting their families. The evidence
presented during the trial showed that Rocha Sr. extorted additional money from
family members of migrants that already lived in the United States. In some instances, he ordered his accomplices
to subject migrants to brutal violence and mutilation while their family
members were forced to listen over the phone.
The Justice Department has a long history of working with
the Department of Homeland Security and other federal partners to investigate
and prosecute human smugglers. These
collaborative efforts lead to prosecutions of those responsible for the illegal
entry of individuals, including unaccompanied minors. The string of human smuggling convictions on
the southwest border emphasizes the federal law enforcement resources being
brought to bear to dismantle and disrupt these dangerous, criminal
operations. Human smuggling acts can
also lead to extremely dangerous circumstances that pose a public safety threat
and significant humanitarian concerns.
Many of the cases prosecuted by U.S. Attorney’s Offices throughout the
country involve migrants who have been kidnapped, taken hostage, beaten,
sexually assaulted, threatened or who have actually died as a result of living
under some of the most perilous conditions.
Tragic stories have become all too familiar along the
southwest border. In October 2014, for
example, Carlos Hernandez-Palma and Fernando Armenta-Romero were apprehended
and sentenced for their role in the death of an undocumented immigrant woman
that they abandoned in the wilderness of Otay Mountain near the San Diego
border. Court records revealed that the
woman’s husband pleaded with the smugglers, to no avail, to call for assistance
for his pregnant wife after she became gravely ill during the venture. It would be several days before the U.S.
Border Patrol found his wife’s body. Her
cause of death was attributed to hyperglycemia from being diabetic and
hypothermia from environmental exposure.
In addition, the Justice Department is working with
countries like Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico to identify and
prosecute smugglers who are aiding unaccompanied children crossing the U.S.
border. The coordinated efforts also
target facilitators operating in foreign countries.
These ongoing enforcement efforts started before last year’s
surge of unaccompanied minors and the Justice Department will continue to be
vigilant in bringing smugglers to justice.
In the years 2009 to 2014, the Justice Department charged more than
18,000 defendants with smuggling or harboring immigrants.
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