BUFFALO, N.Y. – U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Buffalo Station arrested 12 men and 1 woman from Mexico and Nicaragua.
On March 4, while performing patrol duties, agents came across two separate suspicious vehicles that had North Carolina plates affixed. Agents then conducted traffic stops upon both vehicles to perform immigration inspections of the individuals inside both vans. None of the occupants of either vehicle could produce immigration documents and all individuals were subsequently arrested.
During the interview process, agents discovered that the undocumented non-citizens allegedly travelled to the area as a group from North Carolina to work at jobs allegedly paying $14 per hour. Further investigation revealed that none of the undocumented non-citizens had received authorization to work in the United States.
“These arrests can be attributed to our increased situational awareness and the diligence of our agents. It also illustrates how some undocumented individuals can be enticed to travel with promises of work, when they are not able to legally work in the U.S.,” said Patrol Agent in Charge David Banks.
The investigation concluded with six of the undocumented being processed for removal and detained in Batavia Federal Detention Facility awaiting a deportation hearing for charges under Section 212 and 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The remaining six who were previously arrested by agents at the southwest border and failed to report to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office in San Antonio, Texas were ordered to report, as originally instructed. The last undocumented who had been previously removed from the United States was processed again for reinstatement of the original removal order.
Buffalo Sector is responsible for securing the border between ports of entry in New York and Pennsylvania encompassing 341 linear maritime border miles. The assistance of citizens is invaluable to their border security mission, and they welcome community members to help them keep our nation’s borders safe and report suspicious activity at 1-800-331-0353.
For more information on the U.S. Border Patrol, visit the Border Security section of the website.