Alejandra María Ang Hernández, a local congresswoman from Baja California, was detained by U.S. immigration authorities after attempting to enter the country with approximately $45,000 USD (800,000 pesos) in undeclared cash.
Read also: These are some of the Mexican politicians whose visas have been revoked by the U.S. government
The legislator, who chairs the Public Spending Oversight Committee in the state Congress, attempted to cross from Mexico into California on the afternoon of Monday, January 5, through the Calexico port of entry in Mexicali.
The Morena party legislator was driving a late-model white GMC Yukon when she was flagged for a thorough inspection.
During the inspection, federal agents discovered the money, a finding that aroused suspicion among authorities due to the way the cash was distributed: it was found in two separate sections of the SUV, some in the front and some in the back, which was initially interpreted as an attempt at concealment, according to a report by Zeta Weekly, a Baja California-based news publication.
Following the discovery, Ang Hernández was taken to the administrative offices of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for questioning. The legislator was detained for five hours, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., while her legal status was evaluated, according to the same report.
Under U.S. federal law, anyone entering the country with more than $10,000 in cash or its equivalent in foreign currency is legally required to declare it. Failure to do so could result in the total confiscation of assets, fines, and, in some cases, the revocation of a tourist visa.
In response to the controversy, the congresswoman issued a statement attempting to downplay the incident. In her message to the public, she described the incident as a personal “mistake” and asserted that the money was of legitimate origin, the product of joint savings with her husband, César Castro (current president of the Morena Political Council in the state), and the sale of a vehicle.
“Before crossing through the Calexico border crossing, I mistakenly failed to secure the cash intended for the purchase of a vehicle at my home,” the congresswoman explained. “I want to be absolutely clear: These are personal funds belonging to my husband and myself, derived from years of savings and the sale of a car; I am following the administrative process to clarify, document, and recover our money.”
Ang Hernández emphasized that, unlike other recent cases, her visa was not revoked.
“I am fully cooperating and will provide all the information required to finalize this process promptly,” she stated.
The fact that a politician from the ruling Morena party is involved in a problem with U.S. immigration authorities is neither an isolated nor a new occurrence.
On the contrary, it adds to a growing list of Morena officials in the state who have faced friction with the U.S. government.
Last December, Congressman Jaime Eduardo Cantón was detained at Los Angeles International Airport. After the ensuing scandal, he stated that his visa was about to expire and that he simply hadn’t renewed it.
Also in December, José Luis Dagnino López, the Morena mayor of San Felipe, Baja California, was notified of the revocation of his tourist visa by U.S. agents while attempting to enter the United States at the border crossing into Calexico.
The list of individuals linked to the local administration who have faced problems at the border or open investigations includes the state governor, Marina del Pilar Ávila Olmeda (Morena); her ex-husband, Carlos Torres Torres; the husband of the mayor of Mexicali, Luis Samuel Guerrero Delgado; and the former mayor of Playas de Rosarito, Araceli Brown Figueredo.
Officials from other states are also included, such as the mayors of Sonora: César Iván Sandoval Gámez (San Luis Río Colorado), Juan Gim (Nogales), and Óscar Castro (Puerto Peñasco).
For now, the congresswoman has one month to prove to U.S. authorities that the money comes from legitimate activities.
Meanwhile, the state leadership of her party and the state administration have not commented, leaving the legislator with the responsibility of cleaning up her image before a citizenry that questions the consistency between the discourse of austerity and the transport of large sums of cash in divided compartments.
Source: dallasnews
