Akwesasne resident helps nab six illegal aliens — Tribal Chief of Police says community is being vigilant on suspicious activity

At approximately 10:00 PM on February 29, a concerned Akwesasne community member called the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribal Police and reported that he saw a man, woman, and two children get into a van driven by two other men at the Bear’s Den restaurant in Akwesasne.  The community member suspected he had witnessed an alien smuggling attempt.  The New York State Police stopped the van shortly thereafter in Hogansburg and requested assistance from U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Massena station.

According to a press release by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, border patrol agents responded to a request for assistance from the New York State Police (NYSP), that resulted in the arrest of six illegal aliens.

“This is a great example of our integration with state, local and tribal law enforcement partners,” said Patrol Agent in Charge Wade A. Laughman. “The quick response of the New York State Police stopped four illegal aliens from successfully entering the United States.”

Once at the scene, agents questioned the occupants of the van and determined that the six were citizens of the Dominican Republic illegally present in the United States.  The illegal aliens were arrested and transported to the Massena Border Patrol station to conduct interviews and check records.

“We can’t be everywhere and need the Akwesasne community’s help to keep our people safe,” noted Tribal Chief of Police Matthew Rourke. “Being vigilant and asking community members to call tribal police or Border Patrol when they notice suspicious activity continues to be an important part of our law enforcement capabilities.”

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, border patrol agents identified the two men that picked up the four people at the restaurant. One of the men, Ysrael Garcia-Diaz, 27, entered the United States on June 21, 2009 as the fiancé of a U. S. citizen.  He never married, and his non-immigrant visa expired on December 1, 2009.  Since then, he has been illegally present in the United States.  The other man, Justo Garcia-Paulino, 54, claimed to have entered the United States in December of 2002 by walking through the desert in Arizona.  He then travelled to New York.

The man they picked up, Moises Pena-Cristopher, 23, applied for a visa on October 23, 2014 in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), but no other records were found.  He was arrested with his girlfriend, 25, and her two minor children, ages two and four.

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York is prosecuting Ysrael Garcia-Diaz and Justo Garcia-Paulino under 8 USC 1324, Alien Smuggling.  They each face up to 1 year in prison, a $100,000 fine and removal from the United States. Moises Pena-Cristopher is being charged under 8 USC 1325, Improper Entry by Alien.  He faces six months in prison, a $5,000 fine and removal from the United States.

Akwesasne straddles the intersection of international U.S. and Canada borders and provincial Ontario and Quebec boundaries on both banks of the St. Lawrence River. Akwesasne, despite it’s history of smuggling, is no longer a special case. Police officials say smuggling is on the decline but the borders still pose some special challenges given the complexity of dealing with multiple police and border patrol agencies from two sides of the native community, two countries, one U.S. state and two Canadian provinces.