WASHINGTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Acting Director Matthew Albence announced on Monday that “cases of fake families using forged documents to illegally enter our country and avoid detention,” have forced the reallocation of resources to the Southwest border to investigate human smuggling operations and the use of fraudulent documents.
Throughout April, HSI special agents have conducted about 100 family unit interviews and have found evidence of fraud in more than a quarter of cases.
According to ICE, fraudulent activity may include the use of forged birth certificates or other fraudulent documents to establish parentage. Forged or other fraudulent documents are also being used by adult illegal aliens to falsely claim they are minors under the age of 18. By fraudulently entering as a family unit or unaccompanied minor, illegal aliens can exploit loopholes in immigration laws to enter the U.S. and avoid detention.
During the week of April 16, HSI deployed three teams to support U.S. Customs and Border Protection interdiction efforts in El Paso, Texas, and Las Cruces, New Mexico. During the week of April 22, ICE Homeland Security Investigations HSI deployed three additional teams to Eagle Pass and Harlingen, Texas; Yuma, Arizona; and El Centro and San Diego, CA. The teams were chosen for their human smuggling and trafficking expertise and include criminal analysts, interpreters, document analysts, forensic interview specialists and victim assistance specialists.
On April 22, HSI special agents identified two suspect family units presenting as two fathers with their sons. The four individuals, two of whom were discovered to be 23-year-old men pretending to be minors, are being prosecuted for visa fraud and making false statements.
On April 18, an adult Honduran man presented a false birth certificate for a 7-year-old child traveling with him. During an interview, the adult admitted that he was completely unrelated to the child. The man was prosecuted for illegal entry and the child was turned over to the Office of Refugee Resettlement as an unaccompanied minor, according to procedures required in the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA).
Additionally, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations has temporarily shifted approximately 330 deportation officers to areas at or near the border or to areas within the U.S. most deeply impacted by the unprecedented surge being encountered at the Southwest border.