5 Indicted in H-2A Visa Smuggling Ring

Five people have been charged in a scheme to smuggle illegal immigrants into the United States by exploiting an agricultural worker visa program.

Martha Aquino, 61; Evangelina Aquino De Galvan, 49; Julio Cervantes, 38; Marco Cervantes, 41; and Juan Felipe Romero-Lopez, 31, are accused of conspiring to manipulate the H-2A visa program, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a Sept. 15 statement.

The H-2A program allows American employers to bring in foreign nationals to fill temporary job vacancies in the agriculture sector.

According to the statement, the defendants fraudulently obtained these temporary visas, deceived authorities regarding workers’ residence, and were “demanding and receiving improper payments from the workers” for their visas.

The defendants allegedly seized identification documents of workers, including passports, and threatened them with violence. Upon visa expirations, the conspirators allegedly enabled the workers to remain in the country and “even offered to transport them elsewhere in the United States in exchange for additional improper payments,” the DOJ said.

According to advocacy group UFW Foundation, as much as half of America’s farm labor force is made up of illegal immigrant workers. A survey the organization conducted last year among 2,250 farm workers, mostly in the United States illegally, found that around 80 percent have lived in the United States for more than 10 years.

If convicted, each of the defendants could face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for visa fraud conspiracy. They are also facing other charges such as encouraging and inducing illegal entry and illegally possessing firearms, which could result in additional prison time.

Romero-Lopez is an illegal immigrant from Mexico, and the other four are from the state of Georgia. Marco Cervantes, Julio Cervantes, and Aquino have been arrested, and Romero-Lopez is detained, according to the statement. De Galvan remains at large.

“Those who exploit immigrant workers and abuse the H-2A visa program for their own financial gain will be held accountable,” U.S. Attorney Margaret E. Heap for the Southern District of Georgia said in the statement.

“We will continue to partner with our federal, state and local agencies to protect these workers, safeguard the integrity of the H-2A program and prosecute those who turn a lawful employment program into a vehicle for profit and abuse.”

The Epoch Times was unable to reach legal representatives of the defendants.

In September last year, the DOJ announced the expansion of JTFA to cover districts along the United States’ northern and maritime borders.

JTFA’s work has so far resulted in the arrests of more than 458 individuals linked to immigrant smuggling and trafficking activities, the DOJ said.

In one case supported by the JTFA, a person from Mexico recently pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle illegal immigrants into America through an underground tunnel.

Meanwhile, the Trump administration is cracking down on foreigners living illegally in the United States. More than 3 million illegal immigrants have left the United States under the second Trump administration, according to a Sept. 2 statement from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“The hard-working men and women of DHS continue to break records as they defend the homeland and protect the American people,” DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin said in the statement.

“If you are in the country illegally, LEAVE NOW. If not, we will find you, arrest you, and deport you.”