A 51 year
old woman have been arrested for running
a “drop” house for undocumented immigrants, federal authorities said.
On her property police found 44 people, mostly
from Mexico and two from Guatemala. Some said they had been locked in a
small backyard shed with dozens of others — without light or ventilation
according to a federal complaint. There was no bathroom, so those in the shed
were forced to use only a bucket.
Federal authorities charged her
with harboring and concealing undocumented immigrants. On Thursday, a U.S.
district judge sentenced Olivero to three years and one month in prison,
according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Olivero is a Cuban living legally in the United
States.
After her arrest, Olivero told Border Patrol
agents she had been involved in harboring the immigrants since 2014. She
did it at the request of a man, “Juan,” whom she met at a bar. Juan
then told her that he’d be bringing some friends to her house and that he’d
pick them up in the morning, according to the complaint.
To pay her rent, she agreed to temporarily house
the immigrants, she told authorities. On some previous occasions she had been
paid $50 for each person she kept in her home.
Some of the
undocumented immigrants, who were later placed into the custody of immigration
authorities pending immigration proceedings, said they agreed to pay
$5,000-$8,500 to be smuggled into the United States. At least one immigrant was
an unaccompanied minor. One said he was not given any food or water while
in Olivero’s shed.
“I did it
without thinking,” Olivero told the judge, apologizing for her actions. “I did
it to pay my rent.”
No comments:
Post a Comment