DALLAS (KRLD) - A Jordanian man pled guilty to smuggling migrants from Yemen into Texas from Mexico, authorities say.
US Attorney John Bash says there was a trafficking pipeline that ran from Yemen to Saudi Arabia to South America and eventually to Mexico where 31-year-old Moayed Mohammad Aldairi was based.
For two to six thousand dollars a person, he would help Yemini nationals get to Piedra Negras, Mexico. "And then teach them how to cross the Rio Grande into Eagle Pass, Texas." From there they were headed to Chicago and New York and other cities. And he even went so far as to provide them with disguises, reflective vests, and construction helmets so they would look like construction workers when they got across.
Bash says while perhaps most migrants entering from the Southern Border are from Mexico and Central America, many others are not.
"Folks from Yemen are considered special interest aliens, meaning there are heightened concerns from nationals from those countries. In this case, obviously, because there is a major terrorist presence in Yemen, including Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula."
He adds "Border security is national security. We simply cannot have an immigration system that allows people from all over the world to enter this country without detection," said U.S. Attorney Bash. "We must know the identity of every person setting foot on U.S. soil, however they enter."
