Human Smuggling

On August 5, a former United States Border Patrol Agent was arraigned on charges of alien smuggling and a false claim of United States citizenship.^[1] On August 11, he was denied bail.^[2] The defendant is accused of smuggling people in his Border Patrol vehicle, receiving $1,500 a person.^[3] He was also accused of applying for the Border Patrol job with a fake birth certificate that said he was born in Chicago, when he was apparently born in Tijuana, Mexico.^[4]

He was charged under 18 U.S.C. § 911 for the false claim of U.S. citizenship count, and under 8 U.S.C. §§ 1324(a)(1)(A)(i) and (v)(I) for the alien smuggling count.^[5]

False Claim of U.S. Citizenship
18 U.S.C. § 911 makes it a crime for a person to falsely and willfully represent himself to be a citizen of the United States.

Violating section 911 can result in a fine, imprisonment for not more than three years, or both.

Alien Smuggling
8 U.S.C. § 1324(a)(1)(A)(i) states that it is a criminal act for anyone, knowing that a person is an alien, to bring that person to the United States in any manner whatsoever at a place other than a designated port of entry, regardless of whether the alien has received official authorization to enter the United States. 8 U.S.C. § 1342(a)(1)(A)(v)(I) criminalizes engaging in any conspiracy to do so.

Violating section 1324 can be punished by a fine, imprisonment for up to 5 years, or both.

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[1] Carol C. Lam, Office of the U.S. Atty., Southern Dist. of Cali., News Release 1, Aug. 5, 2005, available here.
[2] Former Border Patrol Agent Accused of Smuggling Denied Bail, Associated Press, Aug. 11, 2005, available here.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Lam, supra note 1, at 2.