‘Los Ángeles de la Frontera’ or ‘The Border Angels’ in English, is an organization responsible for organizing the humanitarian movement “Hope’s Door.” This movement is for people living on opposite sides of the U.S.-Mexico border to reunite for a three-minute time-frame.
The reunions take place in a small park belonging to the National Security Department called “Friendship Park.” They send various requests to Border Patrol, who screen the solicitants and later inform the Border Angels who will be able to have a meet and greet.
Last November, two applicants organized a wedding without warning. Brian Houston and his Mexican fiancee, Evelia Reyes, arrived dressed in wedding garb, invited around 12 family members to witness the marriage, signed the necessary legal papers, took pictures and hugged in the small time they were appointed.
“Our love has no borders,” said Evelia, after becoming Houston’s wife. The American government denied Evelia a visa, and her husband can’t go to Mexico for undisclosed reasons.
Less than a month later, legal documents revealed Brian Houston attempted to traffic around 43 pounds of heroin, 47 pounds of meth and 43 pounds of cocaine on February 28th, 2017. He got released after paying a $200,000 fee, handing in his passport and promising never to return to Mexico again.
“Border Patrol Agents feel annoyed and cheated,” Joshua Wilson, a spokesman for the agency confessed. “It turns out we offered armed security to a drug trafficker’s wedding.”
The revelation put the continuation of these meetings at risk. Border Patrol screened Houston based on the biographical information Enrique Morones, “The Border Angels” executive director, provided. It included no criminal records.
Morones got called out for not notifying Border Patrol that the two applicants had the intention of getting married. In response, Morones expressed the desire to meet with Border Patrol’s San Diego Director, Rodney Scott, to analyze what happened and talk about future events.
“I was just as surprised as everyone else when I found out about the serious legal situation Brian Houston was in. This goes against everything the Border Angels is trying to defend,” Morones said in an interview. The U.S. based drug trafficker pled guilty in may and is expected to get sentenced in January 2018.
This article was inspired by KHOU // Cartel wedding secured by armed Border Patrol agents