A Cuban national woman and three other undocumented immigrants were detained by U.S. Border Patrol agents (USBP) and will be deported after illegally entering the country from Mexico last Sunday, guided by a smuggler who was also arrested.
A statement published on the website of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) indicated that the crossing of the five individuals occurred near Lukeville on May 18, after which they were located and arrested that night.
"The group included a 49-year-old Cuban woman, a 27-year-old Uzbek woman traveling with her two small children, and a 38-year-old Mexican man, suspected to be her foot guide," authorities added, who did not disclose the identity of any of the individuals.
"The agents assigned to the Ajo station made the arrest after surveillance technology captured a group of suspected illegal immigrants walking through a remote area near the city of Lukeville, around 5 p.m.," the note specified.
The officials who went to the area located and detained the five foreigners who had illegally entered the U.S. through the Arizona desert on that same day. All were taken to the Ajo Station for processing.
The statement added that the Mexican citizen will face criminal charges for human trafficking, "as a foot guide," in addition to charges for illegal entry into the country.
Meanwhile, women and children will undergo immigration deportation processes, revealed the chief agent of the Border Patrol in the Tucson sector, Sean McGoffin, in a post on the social network X.
Regarding the circumstances of the arrest of the undocumented individuals, the officer commented that, “fortunately, the border agents managed to detain them all without incident before they ventured into the vast and deadly desert.”
McGoffin added that this incident is still under investigation and "the Tucson Sector will continue to collaborate with the U.S. Attorney's Office to pursue all applicable criminal charges."
"The smuggling through remote desert areas poses a significant danger, especially for families with children,” warned McGoffin in statements reported on the CBP website."
He also emphasized that the goal "is to dismantle the human trafficking networks operating along the southwest border, to ensure that no one becomes a victim of unscrupulous smugglers."
The tightening of immigration policies by the administration of President Donald Trump has had a significant impact on the irregular migration of Cubans to the U.S.
According to statistics from Customs and Border Protection, the illegal entry of citizens from the island into the U.S. has seen a drastic decline. In April, extremely low numbers were recorded again, with only 130 entries through unauthorized routes.
Of the total number of Cubans who arrived illegally in the country during that month, 90 crossed the southern border with Mexico, 10 did so through the northern border with Canada, and 30 were intercepted at sea.
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