416 migrants have posed as unaccompanied minors to enter the U.S. since October 2021

In the Fiscal Year 2022, which started on October 1, 2021, around 416 undocumented immigrants have been caught posing as unaccompanied minors in the El Paso Sector, a trend that has been rising since 2019.

Last fiscal year’s figures of migrants posing as children in the El Paso Sector are on their way to surpass the figures from Fiscal Year 2021, from October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2021. During that time period, at least 559 imposers were caught while attempting to cross the border. 

The El Paso Sector border patrol agents protect 264 miles of the U.S. border with Mexico along New Mexico and western Texas.

According to U.S. policy, unaccompanied minors that cross the U.S. border cannot be deported to their countries of origin and are exempt from Title 42, a Trump administration rule that allowed border agents to turn away migrants seeking asylum to avoid further spread of the pandemic.

Recently, the El Paso Sector Central Processing Center discovered a 24-year-old Guatemalan who was attempting to gain access to the United States by using his 15-year-old brother's birth certificate. The immigrant was questioned after authorities found discrepancies in his documentation.

Similarly, a 20-year-old Honduran presented a fake birth certificate to be let into the country.

El Paso Sector declined to provide the dates or incidents of both of these incidents because they are still under investigation. However, both men are being charged with providing false statements to federal agents and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. The penalties for these crimes can include fines or imprisonment.

“El Paso Sector agents are working tirelessly to identify and prosecute adult migrants who fraudulently claim to be unaccompanied minors,” said El Paso Sector Border Patrol chief Gloria I. Chavez. “Our teamwork with our U.S. partners and Foreign Consulates focuses on keeping other migrant children, while in our custody, safe from adult imposters.”

According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, El Paso Sector agents have intercepted around 12,238 of the 85,699 unaccompanied minors that crossed the U.S. border since October 1, 2021.