A Guatemalan in the U.S. illegally has been indicted by a federal grand jury in Ohio on charges he smuggled a teenage girl into the country and filed a false sponsorship application.
Prosecutors accuse Juan Tiul Xi, 26, a Cleveland resident who entered the country illegally in 2023, of inducing a 14-year-old Guatemalan girl to enter the U.S. without legal permission and to use the identity of his sister as her alias, Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Tuesday in a news release.
The girl was placed with the Office of Refugee Resettlement because she was a minor at the border without a parent or guardian, and Tiul Xi allegedly applied to sponsor and gain custody of her. In September 2023, the office released the girl into Tiul Xi's custody, believing she was his sister.
Tiul Xi was charged Friday in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio with encouraging or inducing illegal entry for financial gain, making a false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement, and aggravated identity theft. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison on the first count, five years in prison on the second count, and mandatory consecutive sentences of two years in prison on the third count.
''The prior administration's border policies created an environment that enabled human trafficking and allowed bad actors to take advantage of at-risk children,'' Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. ''We are committed to protecting children from the scourge of human trafficking and will not rest until we deliver justice for those who suffered during the border crisis.''
Tiul Xi's arrest was the result of an operation conducted by Joint Task Force Alpha, a partnership between the departments of Justice and Homeland Security, according to ICE.
The task force was expanded by Bondi to target cartels and other transnational criminal organizations to eliminate human smuggling and trafficking networks operating in Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and Colombia. The task force's work has led to more than 300 arrests and convictions related to human smuggling and trafficking.
''This case is a testament to ICE's commitment to hold predators accountable for the harm they inflict on children,'' acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said in a statement.
''We are making every effort to ensure the safety of children released to sponsors across the United States. This is vital work and through their victim centered approach, ICE Homeland Security Investigations special agents are perfectly positioned to uncover any similar crimes by predatory sponsors,'' he said.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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