CBP lists border violations for July

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July 31, 2010 12:20 AM
Sylvia Butanda, The Brownsville Herald

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the Brownsville Port of Entry detained 38 individuals for alleged violations of immigration law during July, according to an agency press release.

In the first incident, on July 3, a 22-year old U.S. citizen from Houston arrived at the Gateway International Bridge as a pedestrian accompanied by a minor child, who he presented as his stepson, the release said. CBP officers noted discrepancies in the entry documents and the pedestrians were referred for further investigation, where the child was identified as a Mexican citizen from Matamoros with no legal documentation to enter or reside in the United States.

At the same bridge that day, CBP officers identified a passenger in a vehicle as a 24-year old Mexican citizen from Oaxaca who was previously deported, according to the news release. Inspection of the birth certificate presented by the man resulted in referral for verification, where it was determined that the man was deported earlier after a conviction in a case involving indecent liberties with a child in Pender County, N.C., the release said.

The next two cases occurred on July 7 at Veterans International Bridge, where CBP officers apprehended passengers on a commercial bus with counterfeit Guatemalan passports, the release said.

On July 25 at Gateway, CBP officers foiled an alleged attempt to bring two undocumented Mexican citizens into the country, the release said. The driver of a vehicle, a 34-year-old female from Houston who was a U.S. citizen, allegedly used her own children’s birth certificates for two teens, ages 18 and 14. The mother of the driver, a 61-year-old Mexican citizen who was a passenger in the vehicle, was also detained.

The news release states that in all cases, CBP officers seized the border crossing cards, passports and birth certificates presented, and took into custody 19 women and 19 men.

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