Yuma-area U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers arrested a woman Friday evening for allegedly trying to smuggle two children into the U.S., authorities said.
Around 11:30 p.m., CBP officers at the San Luis border crossing stopped a 28-year-old woman driving a 2007 Nissan Sentra with two children—ages 11 and 8—in the backseat, said John Mennell, a CBP spokesman. The woman, who was not named, presented U.S. birth certificates for the children in her vehicle, and CBP officials decided to send her to a secondary inspection area, Mennell said.
The woman later told CBP officers the children were family members, however, “officers soon discovered there was no family relationship between the woman and the two minors” said Mennell.
“The birth certificates, while legitimate, did not belong to the children,” he said, adding the children are Mexican citizens and did not have valid entry documents.
The children told CBP officers they were given sedatives before the woman attempted to drive them across the border “in effort to assist in evading detection,” Mennell said.
“Our CBP officers prevented this child smuggling attempt utilizing their experience and inspectional skills,” said Chris Leon, Area Port Director for San Luis. “CBP remains committed to upholding our U.S. immigration laws.”
CBP officers arrested the woman for alleged violation of U.S. immigration law and seized her car, Mennell said.
In 2019, Homeland Security officials began taking DNA from some migrants to determine if an adult claiming to be a biological parent was indeed related, and identify people who were fraudulently presenting themselves as a family unit when they were apprehended. During the fiscal year of 2019—which ran from Oct 1. 2018 through Sept. 30, 2019—Border Patrol agents discovered 6,200 fraudulent families among nearly 473,000 people who presented themselves as families, CBP reported in its in-house magazine “Frontline.”
That same year, officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said they found 238 fraudulent families, seizing hundreds of documents and arresting 350 people for smuggling, making false statements and conspiracy. Another 50 people were charged after officials said they fraudulently claimed to be unaccompanied minors.
Historically, DHS was exempt from federal requirements to take DNA in many cases. However in March 2020, the Justice Department required DHS officials to collect DNA from people who are arrested, facing criminal charges, or detained and gave the agency 3-years to comply with federal requirements.
Following the rule change, by 2022, the agency collected samples from about 37 percent of the 1.7 million people it encountered, the GAO reported. In Arizona, CBP officials took more than 182,000 DNA samples that year.
CBP also takes DNA swabs on people as they enter the U.S. through CBP One—a cellphone application that allows asylum seekers to create appointment for a chance to stay in the U.S. pending their case. However, the agency avoids taking DNA from minors under 14.