Border Patrol Agent Arrested Over Alleged Scheme To Smuggle Migrants Over Southern Border

A Border Patrol agent attempted to foment a scheme to help illegal immigrants enter the United States by way of fake documentation and bogus asylum claims, prosecutors and federal officials claim.

Jorge Alonso, a Border Patrol agent deployed to the Rio Grande Valley Sector of the U.S.-Mexico border, was arrested on May 22 on human smuggling charges, Cameron County District Attorney Luis Saenz announced on Friday. Alonso allegedly tried to help an illegal immigrant enter the U.S., and establish a process for other foreign nationals to enter the country unlawfully.

“Alonso allegedly encouraged and coached an undocumented immigrant to enter into the U.S. via a Port of Entry and make a claim to legal status,” Saenz stated in a Facebook post. “Alonso also allegedly provided a fraudulent U.S. Birth Certificate. The goal of the conspiracy was to establish a basis for further illegal crossings based on the fraudulent U.S. Birth Certificate.”

The investigation was conducted by agencies including the district attorney’s office, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the Office of Professional Responsibility, the district attorney said. The alleged smuggling offense is a special third-degree felony and carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison.

CBP confirmed the arrest to the Daily Caller News Foundation