U.S. Border Patrol agents from the Buffalo Station arrested 12 men and one woman from Mexico and Nicaragua in two separate incidents involving suspicious vehicles with North Carolina plates.
During routine patrol duties on March 4, agents encountered the vehicles and conducted traffic stops to perform immigration inspections. None of the occupants could produce immigration documents, leading to their arrest.
Further investigation revealed that the individuals had traveled as a group from North Carolina for jobs allegedly paying $14 per hour. However, none of them had authorization to work in the United States.
Border Patrol Agent (Credits: The New York Times)
“These arrests highlight the importance of our agents’ vigilance and our increased situational awareness. They also show how some undocumented individuals are lured into traveling for work promises, despite their inability to work in the U.S. legally,” said Patrol Agent in Charge David Banks.
Six of the undocumented individuals are being processed for removal. They are detained at the Batavia Federal Detention Facility awaiting deportation hearings for charges under Sections 212 and 237 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.
The remaining six, who had previously been arrested at the southwest border and failed to report to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office in San Antonio, Texas, have been ordered to report as initially instructed.
The last undocumented individual, previously removed from the United States, is being processed for reinstatement of the original removal order.
