Border Patrol accuses American of smuggling attempt near Oroville, arrests Yemeni immigrant in Spokane

The U.S. Border Patrol says agents arrested two Mexican citizens and an American smuggler who attempted to transport the pair across the Canadian border near Oroville, Washington, last weekend.

Agents spotted the Mexican citizens walking in a remote area near the border and determined they had just illegally entered the United States, the Border Patrol said in a news release.

At the same time, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at the Oroville port of entry stopped a vehicle that was registered to one of the Mexican citizens, according to the release. They determined the driver, a U.S. citizen, had intended to pick up the Mexican citizens and “further aid their illegal entry.”

Agents seized the vehicle, charged the driver with smuggling and detained the Mexican nationals, according to the release. The Border Patrol did not name any of those arrested, in keeping with its opaque detention practices.

Agents also arrested a Yemeni man over the weekend at the Spokane Intermodal Center – a place where hundreds of immigrants have been detained on Greyhound buses in recent years, igniting debate among city leaders.

According to the release, the man had overstayed his visa after legally entering the United States through John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York in February 2018.

The Border Patrol said he would be taken to a detention facility in Tacoma run by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.