ICE contractor arrested for attempting to smuggle illegal migrants into Texas
A federal contractor for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement used her position to attempt to smuggle over 30 adult migrants through Texas by lying that they were children who tested positive for COVID-19.
Border Patrol arrested Nancy Berenice Fernandez Luna, 35, on Oct. 4 after she tried to sneak the bus full of migrants through a checkpoint. The federal contractor appeared in court Tuesday, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Nadia S. Medrano set bond at $50,000.
In addition to Fernandez, Border Patrol arrested Juan Torres Ayala, who picked up the charter bus and said that he was promised $1,800 for making the trip. He also confessed that he knew the migrants on the bus were in the country illegally.
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McAllen-based ValleyCentral reported that Fernandez once worked with MVM Inc., a company that provides transportation services. The Office of Refugee Resettlement and ICE are among its customers.
When Fernandez arrived at the Border Patrol checkpoint, she presented agents with her “ICE personal identification verification (PIV) contracting card,” according to a criminal complaint referenced by the outlet. Fernandez told agents that she was transporting migrant children who had tested positive for COVID-19.
The agents called the Rio Grande Valley Centralized Processing Center to verify the contractor’s claims, and the charter bus filled with illegal migrants was moved on to a secondary inspection. It was during the secondary inspection that Border Patrol agents discovered the bus was not transporting children but 39 adults who admitted they were in the United States illegally.
Both Torres and Fernandez have been charged with transporting people without legal status in the U.S., according to the local news outlet.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee Fry requested that Fernandez be held without bond, noting that this wasn't the first time she had attempted to smuggle migrants. Fernandez’s attorney, Jose “Pepe” Garza of McAllen, argued that the woman’s family could only afford a $5,000 deposit.
Medrano, however, set the bond at $50,000 and ordered Fernandez to agree to GPS monitoring if she posts bond. She also noted that Torres and Fernandez are reportedly “in a relationship,” but the pair are not allowed to speak while the case is pending.
Following Fernandez's arrest, MVM said in a statement to The Washington Times that she hasn't worked for the company in six months and is no longer employed there. The company added that it conducted “extensive third-party and government background checks” before hiring the contractor. MVM did not explain in its statement to the Times why its former employee still had her ICE contractor credentials.
MVM and ICE did not immediately respond to The Christian Post’s request for comment.
The issue of border security and migrants illegally entering the U.S. has continued to receive media attention.
According to a recent report, border agents encountered over 400 individuals on the Terrorist Screening Database in fiscal year 2024, with the data assessing encounters at the Northern and Southern borders.
Last year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in San Diego issued an alert notice after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, warning that “foreign fighters motivated by ideology or mercenary soldiers of fortune may attempt to obfuscate travel to or from the US to or from countries in the Middle East through Mexico.”
The alert noted that individuals attempting to enter the U.S. could have ties to terrorist groups, including Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine or similar organizations.
The topic of illegal immigration has repeatedly come up throughout the presidential election season.
During an interview this month with CBS News' "60 Minutes," reporter Bill Whitaker pressed Vice President Kamala Harris about the Biden administration’s border policies. During the early years of his administration, President Joe Biden tasked Harris with addressing the "root causes" of mass illegal immigration.
“You recently visited the Southern border and embraced President Biden's recent crackdown on asylum seekers,” Whitaker said. “And that crackdown produced an almost immediate and dramatic decrease in the number of border crossings. If that's the right answer now, why didn't your administration take those steps in 2021?”
Harris argued that former President Donald Trump is responsible for the current immigration crisis. She believes that a border security bill that came out earlier this year would have helped solve the problem, but she said Trump told his “buddies in Congress” to “‘kill the bill, don’t let it move forward.’”
Whitaker, however, noted that "there was a historic flood of undocumented immigrants coming across the border the first three years of your administration" and that the number of arrivals "quadrupled" under the Biden administration.
Harris asserted that the situation at the border has been a “longstanding problem.”
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
