Living the dream: DACA recipients busted for human smuggling

Will Racke, DCNF

MCALLEN, TX - AUGUST 07: U.S. Border Patrol agents detain undocumented immigrants after they crossed the border from Mexico into the United States on August 7, 2015 in McAllen, Texas. The state's Rio Grande Valley corridor is the busiest illegal border crossing into the United States. Border security and immigration have become major issues in the U.S. presidential campaigns. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) — (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Two recipients of an executive amnesty for younger illegal immigrants were arrested on suspicion of human smuggling violations in two separate incidents last week, federal officials said Monday.

One of the men has active status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and the other is a former DACA beneficiary whose protections have expired.

DACA gives certain younger illegal immigrants a reprieve from deportation and two-year renewable work authorization. President Donald trump ended the program last year and gave lawmakers until March 5 to pass legislation that would codify the protections.

In the first smuggling incident, Border Patrol agents pulled over a suspicious vehicle on Interstate 5 near Torrey Pines State Park in San Diego. Three men were inside: the driver — a 20-year-old DACA recipient whose status had expired — and two Mexican nationals suspected of being in the country illegally, reports the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The former DACA recipient told border agents he had been involved in human smuggling on the area, officials said. He is currently in federal custody.

The second incident took place Thursday morning when Border Patrol agents working about 50 miles east of San Diego spotted two suspicious vehicles. After agents conducted an immigration inspection of one of the cars, the driver — a 22-year-old DACA recipient from Mexico — told them he was scouting the area to aid a group of smugglers, federal officials said.

The suspect, who was not identified, is in Department of Homeland Security custody pending deportation, according to KUSI News in San Diego.

DACA recipients — sometimes called ‘Dreamers’ — have been arrested in connection with human smuggling on previous occasions. In October, two DACA beneficiaries were arrested in separate incidents in Texas for transporting illegal immigrants from Brazil and Mexico in the trunks of their cars.

Follow Will on Twitter

Send tips to will@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Freedom of Speech Isn’t Free
The Daily Caller News Foundation is working hard to balance out the biased American media. For as little as $3, you can help us. Make a one-time donation to support the quality, independent journalism of TheDCNF. We’re not dependent on commercial or political support and we do not accept any government funding.

For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!