Two women remain behind bars after they allegedly tried to smuggle a child at the Hidalgo International Bridge.
U.S. Immigrations & Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers charged Esmeralda Garza and Juanita Cruz with alien smuggling charges on Monday.
Court records show that Garza entered the United States at the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge with a girl.
Investigators wrote that Garza tried to pass of the child as an American citizen using a birth certificate belonging to Cruz’s daughter.
Agents had Garza meet Cruz at a nearby Whataburger where she was arrested.
Court records show that the girl had been “trained” on what to tell agents and that Cruz had wanted Garza to bring two more children across.
Garza is identified as an American citizen who lives in the Rio Grande Valley while Cruz is a Mexican national who lives in Minnesota.
Cruz allegedly told investigators the girl was the daughter of one of her friends.
The two women appeared before U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Dorina Ramos in McAllen on Tuesday morning where they were denied bond.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKGBT