The U.S. Attorney for Vermont Thursday, October 13 said five persons were arrested near Morses Line in Franklin on October 9 for an attempt to smuggle individuals without legal status into the United States.
Angel Hernandez-Pineda, 32, a Honduran national who has no immigration status in the United States, and Jhony Cantarero-Vasquez, 29, of Worcester, MA, appeared yesterday in United States District Court in Burlington on a charge that they attempted to transport people without legal status within the United States.
Federico Rincon-Ramirez, Leydi Rincon-Sosa, and Jairo Alberto Ortiz-Acevedo, who are all citizens of Mexico and without legal status in the United States, also appeared in court yesterday on charges that they unlawfully entered the country. U.S. Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle released Cantarero-Vasquez on conditions; ordered that Hernandez-Pineda be detained pending a further hearing on October 14; and ordered detention of the three individuals without legal status pending trial.
The attempted transportation charge is punishable by up to ten years of imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000. The unlawful entry charge is a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months of imprisonment.
The October 9 attempt was not an isolated incident. According to the Swanton Sector Border Patrol Facebook page, from September 24-26 alone Border Patrol Agents in Northeastern New York and Vermont apprehended 53 subjects, including nationals of Mexico and countries in Central America, South America and Europe, resulting in numerous criminal charges for human smuggling and illegal entry.
The Morses Line station has been open since 1934, a year after the end of Prohibition, according to Wikipedia. In 1871, a proprietor named J. Morse opened a store at this location directly on the US-Canada boundary. A small village grew around it on both sides of the border. The original 1934 US border station remains in use, and of all the 163 US land border inspection stations, it is the oldest one still in operation.
The crossing is among the least busy of the 15 in Vermont, with about 80 cars using it a day, Wikipedia said. It is five miles east of Highgate Springs–St. Armand/Philipsburg Border Crossing, the busiest in the state. Residents living near Morses Line have long fought the US and Canadian governments’ attempts to make changes in the facilities and operations.