SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — The acting deputy chief of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Robert B. Dominguez, said people who cross the border illegally could now face terrorism charges, especially those who hire a smuggler.
Those caught crossing the border illegally are typically charged with illegal entry, and in parts of the border that have been designated at National Defense Areas, illegal border crossers can also be charged with trespassing on military property.
However, the Trump administration in February formally designated eight Latin American crime organizations, which control human smuggling along the U.S.-Mexico border, as “foreign terrorist organizations.” So, Dominguez said, if a person used a smuggler to cross the border without proper documentation or between ports of entry, the could now be charged with aiding that criminal organization.
“If people are paying these criminal organizations, you could say they are lending financial support to these terrorist groups,” Dominguez said during a virtual news conference earlier this week.
Dominguez said up until now, regardless of how people crossed the border illegally, they were simply deported to Mexico or sent back to their country of origin almost immediately. From now on, if a person “willingly participated with a terrorist organization, they could face additional charges including terrorism,” he said.
“If someone enters the U.S. with help of one of these human smuggling groups, that person could be accused of being affiliated with a cartel,” Dominguez said.
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