Authorities: Man acted as foot guide for immigrants to cross illegally into U.S.

Authorities: Man acted as foot guide for immigrants to cross illegally into U.S.



Laura B. Martinez, The Brownsville Herald, Texas
Tue, October 4, 2022 at 4:50 PM




Oct. 4—A man accused of smuggling five immigrants near a Brownsville Public Utilities Board plant near Brownsville said he did so to stay in the United States, court documents show.

Francisco Delgado Manzanares, of Mexico, said he also participated in immigrant smuggling for monetary gains.

Delgado Manzanares appeared Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Igancio Torteya III, who set a $25,000 cash bond on him.

According to a federal criminal complaint, U.S. Border Patrol agents on Sept. 29 were conducting ground surveillance near the BPUB plant when the agents spotted five individuals making their way north from Mexico by crossing the Rio Grande in a raft.

Shortly after, the federal criminal complaint states, the five individuals made their way in the compound of the BPUB, where the agents were waiting for them.

The agents "conducted an immigration inspection on the five subjects, and it was determined they were illegally present in the United States without proper immigration documents," the federal criminal complaint stated.

They were transported to a Brownsville Border Patrol Station, where a smuggling investigation began.

"It was determined that Delgado-Manzanares had in fact acted as a foot guide who was attempting to smuggle four undocumented [immigrants] into the United States in return for him to stay in the United States in exchange for monetary gain," the federal criminal complaint read.

The undocumented immigrants are being held as material witnesses in the case, court documents show.




https://www.yahoo.com/news/authoriti...205000334.html