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  4. CBP Field Operations at Hidalgo Arrests Two Brazilians with Fake Entry Documents

CBP Field Operations at Hidalgo Arrests Two Brazilians with Fake Entry Documents

Release Date
Tue, 05/22/2018

HIDALGO, Texas—U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations (OFO) at the Hidalgo International Bridge arrested a man and woman from Brazil who allegedly attempted to enter the country utilizing fraudulent Portuguese passports.

“These fake documents were detected by our officers due to their keen sense of awareness and ability to distinguish between legitimate and false entry documents,” said Port Director Carlos Rodriguez, Hidalgo/Pharr/Anzalduas Port of Entry. “People must realize that this type of violation carries serious consequences and CBP will arrest those who would attempt to violate immigration law.”

Sign indicating Hidalgo Port of Entry
Sign indicating Hidalgo Port of Entry

On May 20, a 27-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman arrived at the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge as pedestrians attempting to enter the United States as tourists. A closer inspection of their Portuguese passports in secondary resulted in CBP officers determining that they were in fact fraudulent. Further examination revealed that the couple were Brazilian citizens not in possession of valid entry documents to legally enter or reside in the United States.

In a separate, unrelated incident at the same border crossing, CBP officers also detected a 31-year-old woman from Padilla, Tamaulipas, Mexico attempting to enter the U.S. by utilizing a U.S. birth certificate that did not belong to her.

CBP OFO arrested the three persons, who will be incarcerated pending an appearance before a U.S. federal magistrate for alleged violation of U.S. immigration law.

For more information on the immigration inspection process visit this link on CBP.gov, Immigration Inspection Program.

Last Modified: Feb 03, 2021