A federal grand jury indicted a Guatemalan illegal alien this week for allegedly smuggling a child into America and submitting a false application to be the child’s sponsor.
Juan Tiul Xi, who has previously been convicted of sexual battery, allegedly convinced a 14-year-old girl from Guatemala to go to America illegally and identify as his sister.
Once they entered the country, the child was taken into the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR). Then, Tiul Xi allegedly stated falsely on documents that the girl was related to him.
The Guatemalan man has been charged with “one count of encouraging or inducing illegal entry for financial gain, one count of making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement, and one count of aggravated identity theft.”
Tiul Xi faces up to 17 years in prison if convicted.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Biden administration’s border policies produced an environment that enabled human trafficking and let bad actors exploit at-risk children.
“We are committed to protecting children from the scourge of human trafficking and will not rest until we deliver justice for those who suffered during the border crisis,” Bondi explained.
ORR Acting Director Angie Salazar said her office is “committed to continuing vital policy changes that promote the safety and welfare of unaccompanied alien children related into the United States.”
“We have significantly increased sponsor vetting with the wellbeing of the child at the core of our process. We hope that our commitment is evident by our collaboration with law enforcement to right previous wrongs and help bring these crimes to light,” she said.
The DOJ stated that this indictment resulted from the efforts of the Joint Task Force Alpha, which targets cartels and other transnational criminal organizations.
Additionally, the DOJ said this task force has resulted in more than 360 arrests.
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Zachery Schmidt is the digital editor of The Star News Network. Email tips to Zachery at [email protected].
