El Paso Border Control Agents Discover 8 Illegal Aliens Posing as Unaccompanied Minors to Avoid Expulsion

A Border Patrol agent checks an illegal immigrant wearing two wristbands that Mexican cartels have been using to control human smuggling into the United States, near Penitas, Texas, on March 15, 2021. Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times

Multiple illegal aliens posing as unaccompanied minors while in custody have been identified by U.S. Border Patrol Agents in El Paso, Texas in the past week, according to officials.

Three adults who were part of a group of 13 migrants encountered by agents of El Paso Station on Aug. 16 were discovered by agents at the El Paso Sector Central Processing Center (CPC) to be posing as minors.

The three were from Guatemala and included a 21-year-old female, a 22-year-old female, and a 22-year-old male, and were discovered after attempting to use counterfeit documentation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said in a press release on Aug. 19.

“The three were encountered, along with nine unaccompanied children from Guatemala and one adult. These individuals pose as minors in order to avoid expulsion,” officials said.

The following day, agents at the CPC found three males from Guatemala intentionally posing as minors. They were aged 26, 25, and 18 and were part of a group of nine migrants that illegally entered the United States and were encountered by agents from El Paso Station.

“The individuals were questioned at the CPC after agents detected discrepancies between their story and the documentation they presented to pass as minors,” officials said.

On that same day, agents assigned to Ysleta Station in El Paso found a group of eight unaccompanied minors from Guatemala crossing the border illegally on Aug. 17.

Two of the individuals among that group, a 22-year-old male and a 19-year-old female, were also posing as minors, according to CBP, and were discovered after agents found “discrepancies” when they questioned them.

Border Crisis Worsening

Under federal law, individuals who attempt to pose as unaccompanied children could face fines and prison time for making false statements to federal agents and conspiracy to defraud the United States.

So far, El Paso Sector Border Patrol Agents have identified over 665 adult migrants posing as minors during the financial year 2022.

The latest update from CBP comes after an analysis from the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), published on Aug. 16, found that 4.9 million illegal aliens have crossed U.S. borders in the 18 months since President Joe Biden took office.

FAIR noted that 199,976 illegal aliens crossed the U.S border in July, down from 207,416 in June. However, that figure represents a 325 percent increase over the average number of July apprehensions under the Trump administration, according to FAIR.

Dan Stein, president of FAIR, blamed the increased number of illegal aliens entering the country on Biden’s “sabotage of our nation’s immigration laws,” noting that the surge in immigrants illegally crossing the border will “not end until this administration demonstrates a willingness to enforce our laws.”

Elsewhere, El Paso Sector Border Patrol Chief Gloria I. Chavez said in a statement on Friday that migrants are being exploited by transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) who convince them to pose as minors in order to be processed as such.

“Identity fraud is a common tactic used by TCOs to take advantage of migrants who do not know the legal consequences of their actions as they attempt to deceive authorities,” the Border Patrol chief said.