NEW YORK: The lives of two “Dreamers” just turned into a nightmare. Cops say two men in the U.S. under the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program were arrested for human smuggling, officials said.
Border Patrol agents reportedly arrested the two men in separate incidents on Jan. 24-25. U.S. Customs and Border Protection received a tip-off from a witness who observed human smuggling in the San Diego area. Officials arrived and conducted an immigration check. A 20-year-old man in the car was a DACA recipient and his 22-year-old cousin was illegal along with another 21-year-old illegal.
“Both the driver and his cousin admitted their involvement with human smuggling in the area,” Customs and Border Protection said in a release.
The driver’s DACA has expired and is being held in custody. In the second incident at a border checkpoint, a 22-year-old DACA recipient was stopped and admitted he was scouting for the coyotes who smuggle illegals across the U.S.-Mexico frontier. An investigation revealed he had long been involved in smuggling illegals across the border.
He was in violation of the terms of his DACA status and is being held in custody by the Department of Homeland Security custody.
