Two U.S. soldiers, one from Fort Hood and another from the Pennsylvania National Guard, have been charged with smuggling people across the Mexican border.
Fort Hood soldier Ralph Gregory Saint-Joie, 18, and guardsman Emmanuel Oppongagyare, 20, made their first appearance in court on Tuesday where they were held in custody under $75,000 bonds pending a detention hearing scheduled for next Tuesday, according to a criminal complaint by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, obtained by CNN.
On June 13, Oppongagyaye was reportedly driving a vehicle and Saint-Joie was a passenger as they tried crossing the Hebbronville checkpoint, which is located about 150 miles south of San Antonio. Both soldiers were in uniform at the time.
TEXAS TO CROWDFUND BORDER WALL, ABBOTT SAYS
The National Guard member told agents at the border checkpoint that they were traveling from the border town of Zapata, Texas, to San Antonio.
“The BPA questioned Oppongagyare as to his unusual route of travel to which Oppongagyare stated his Global Positioning System (GPS) took him through this route,” the complaint read. “In the BPA’s past experience, the GPS direction is a common explanation used by smugglers to justify their unusual route of travel to San Antonio, Texas.”
During the agents’ second inspection of the car, two Mexican nationals were found in the trunk of the vehicle.
Oppongagye told the agent that a man he met through Saint-Joie paid him $100 and promised an undetermined additional sum of money if he picked up a man and a woman in McAllen, Texas, and drive them to San Antonio.
“Individual 1 promised to pay Oppongagyare and Saint-Joie an undetermined amount of money when they arrived in San Antonio, Texas, specifically instructed they both wear their United States Army issued uniforms to avoid questioning by BPAs,” the complaint read.
A spokesperson for Fort Hood told the Washington Examiner: “Military law enforcement officials are cooperating with federal authorities on the investigation into this alleged behavior that is a gross aberration from conduct expected by soldiers. We encourage soldiers approached by human traffickers to contact the Department of Defense Inspector General hotline.”
Brad Rhen, the deputy state public affairs officer for the Pennsylvania National Guard told the Washington Examiner that Oppongagyare is a private in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s B Company, 876th Engineer Battalion. He added that Oppongagyare was off duty at the time of the arrest and confirmed they will cooperate with the investigation.
Both soldiers face up to 10 years in federal prison and a possible $250,000 maximum fine, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
The number of migrants coming to the border has rapidly ballooned in 2021, specifically under the Biden administration.
At the beginning of President Joe Biden’s term, he stopped the construction of the border wall and reversed President Donald Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy, leading Republicans to blame him for the surge, though defenders note that the influx predated him and started under Trump.
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More than 180,000 people were stopped by law enforcement at the border in May, up from 178,622 in April and 172,331 in March.
Since the fiscal year 2021 began in October 2020, a total of 929,868 people have been encountered unlawfully trying to enter the U.S. from Mexico, more than double the 459,000 arrests made in all of 2020.
