Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas allege that a contractor for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement used a charter bus to move a large group of illegal migrants north. The defendants allegedly claimed they were transporting legal unaccompanied minors that her company was hired to move.
U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested 35-year-old Nancy Berenice Fernandez Luna last week during a smuggling attempt, court records revealed. Luna was riding in a bus with 39 adult illegal migrants and Jose Torres Ayala, who is also facing human smuggling charges. Dave Hendricks first reported the case for CBS4.
During the encounter with agents, Fernandez Luna reportedly presented her work (ICE contractor) ID, identifying her as an employee of MVM Inc.. This company contracts for ICE and the Office of Refugee Resettlement. The court documents revealed that she told the agent that the bus was moving a group of unaccompanied minors who were COVID-19 positive.
The agents told her to wait while they contacted a local processing center to verify the information, and that is when Fernandez and Torres allegedly closed the bus doors and tried to flee. Agents stopped the bus shortly after and had the driver return to a secondary inspection area. There, authorities learned that the migrants were not unaccompanied minors with status but adult illegal migrants being moved by a human smuggling group.
Border Patrol agents arrested Fernandez, Torres, and 39 adult migrants that were inside the bus. Torres Ayala told authorities he was being paid $1,800 for the trip.
According to CBS4, during a hearing in McAllen on Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Nadia Medrano set Fernandez’s bond at $50,000 and ordered that if she can post the bond, she must be subject to GPS monitoring.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
