Man Pleads Guilty to Human Smuggling at Canada-US Border

The Department of Justice in Washington, on Aug. 23, 2024. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File

A Puerto Rican man pleaded guilty in a Vermont court this week to bringing migrants into the United States across the Canada-U.S. border for financial gain.

Jesus Hernandez Ortiz, 38, was added to an encrypted chat platform that coordinated drivers for the pick-up of migrants illegally crossing into the United States from Canada, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a press release.

Hernandez Ortiz rented a van in New Jersey in September 2023 and drove to an agreed-upon location in Vermont, where he picked up a group of 12 people that included two children, the justice department said. The group had just crossed from Canada and were expected to pay Ortiz $400 per person to take them to New York City.

The justice department did not say the exact location where the illegal immigrants crossed the border but indicated it occurred within the Swanton Sector, which spans 295 miles of the international border east of the Great Lakes, and borders Ontario and Quebec.

Hernandez Ortiz and a co-conspirator, Francisco Antonio Luna Rosado, were arrested in January.

Hernandez Ortiz pleaded guilty on July 22 to one count of conspiracy to bring people into the United States and one count of illegally bringing people to the United States. He is set to be sentenced in the coming months.

Luna Rosado is accused of directing smuggling operations from at least August 2022 through at least March 2024, coordinating the illegal transport of aliens across the border into northern Vermont.

Luna Rosado is accused of organizing the crossing of undocumented immigrants who flew from their country of origin to southern Canada. Justice officials say he used live shared cellular location data to guide them into northern Vermont.

His case is still before the courts.

Border Security

Border security in the United States is mainly overseen by the Department of Homeland Security. The primary agency for border control within this department is U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

In Canada, border security and integrity are a shared mandate between the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the RCMP. The RCMP is responsible for enforcing Canadian legislation between ports of entry while the CBSA enforces the law at Canada’s designated ports of entry.

One of the main border issues identified by the RCMP is migrant smuggling. The federal policing service, which refers to migrant smugglers as “coyotes,” said these smugglers often fail to provide safe conditions and many migrants are treated poorly.

RCMP spokesperson Robin Percival previously told The Epoch Times that the Canada-U.S. border is “vast with mixed terrains,” making it difficult and often dangerous to cross.

“RCMP front line officers have seen first-hand heart-breaking situations and are very concerned for the well-being of those crossing the border in dangerous ways to avoid detection,” she said. “People are putting their lives and the lives of their children at risk.”

In the July 21 press release, U.S. Department of Homeland Security acting Deputy Executive Associate Director Matthew Millhollin described migrant border crossings as “incredibly dangerous.”

“Anyone encouraging or facilitating the smuggling of aliens, especially children, across the border in these remote locations is putting lives at risk,” he said. “Hernandez Ortiz has admitted to smuggling aliens for profit and now he’s facing real prison time.”