Staff
The El Paso Journal
Friday, May 05, 2023 | 7:45 p.m.
Step.- Border Patrol agents in the El Paso Sector assigned to the Las Cruces station checkpoint discovered 32 migrants with incorrect documentation on Thursday.
On May 4, agents manning a checkpoint on Interstate 25 conducted an immigration inspection on a commercial bus. Agents found several people on board who filed a Notice of Action Form I-797C.
It was found that the subjects who had submitted the forms had applied for immigration benefits online, but their application had not been finalized, nor had they been granted.
The investigation found that the subjects had been assisted in obtaining the documents by individuals in El Paso, Texas.
All the migrants were from Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia and were transported to the Central Processing Center for further registration.
Over the years, Border Patrol in the El Paso sector has seen different smuggling tactics used by transnational criminal organizations. This includes misinformation provided to migrants and fraudulent documents.
According to USCIS, an I-797C Notice of Action form is only a receipt for an applicant that has been submitted to USCIS and is NOT a determination of whether that applicant is eligible for a
immigration benefit.
Often, the lack of understanding of our immigration and asylum laws is taken advantage of by Transnational Criminal Organizations as an opportunity to profit from migrants. These organizations exploit migrants’ lack of understanding of the laws and make false promises of safe and easy travel to the United States.
“Smuggling organizations lie to migrants who claim safe passage, implying that the United States borders are open when they are not for illegal entry,” said El Paso Sector Chief Anthony Scott Good.
“We are focusing our efforts on applying consequences to those who enter the country illegally between the port of entry and will also prosecute individuals who provide fraudulent documents to migrants as part of an illegal smuggling scheme.”
US Customs and Border Protection appreciates the help of the community. Citizens are encouraged to report suspicious activity to the US Border Patrol while remaining anonymous by calling 1-800-635-2509.
