A former Border Patrol agent, his wife, and another man were charged with unlawfully hiring illegal immigrants to work as drivers at their trucking company and obtaining fraudulent immigration documents.
Ricardo Gonzalez,39, his wife Natalia Gonzalez, 35, and their accomplice, Alex Lopez, 33, were arrested on Thursday, according to the Department of Justice. The three of them were responsible for operating a commercial trucking company located in Laredo, Texas, which sits near the U.S.-Mexico border.
The DOJ reported that the scheme to bring over illegal aliens and hire them at the trucking company began back in 2017, according to a federal grand jury indictment (via DOJ):
Beginning in February of 2017, the indictment alleges the group recruited and hired undocumented individuals to work as commercial truck drivers and paid them less due to their citizenship status. They were allegedly aware that the people they hired were not legally allowed to work in the United States.
The conspirators allegedly prepared paperwork so the individuals could obtain an I-94 permit which allows a visitor to travel farther than 25 miles from the border and remain in the United States for more than 30 days. Applicants must present another permit/visa such as a border crossing card in order to obtain an I-94 and are not eligible to work in the United States by law, according to the charges.
The paperwork allegedly included a letter from a fictious Mexican trucking company and stated the undocumented individual was employed by the company as a truck driver. According to the indictment, the letter further requested that the person receive an I-94 permit so that he could travel into the United States.
The group allegedly instructed individuals to present the letter to authorities at a port of entry in Laredo to apply for the permit. When the individual received the permit, the co-conspirators allegedly assigned jobs to the new employee to transport legitimate cargo throughout the United States.
Ricardo Gonzalez is a former Border Patrol agent who worked with the agency from 2007 to 2019, according to the Washington Times. The DOJ noted that he “utilized his knowledge, training and experience to facilitate the employment of undocumented individuals and obtaining I-94 permits.”
If convicted, each person faces up to five years for the conspiracy to fraudulently obtain immigration permits and up to 10 years each for the conspiracy to encourage or induce an illegal immigration to stay in the U.S. and protect them from detection.
Earlier this month, Townhall reported that over 80 illegal immigrants were found in the back of a dump truck being smuggled across the U.S.-Mexico border. The driver, who was identified as Robert Flores Jr., was charged. He reportedly bypassed Border Patrol agents by driving on a private ranch road into Texas.