Two women have been sentenced to federal prison for attempting to smuggle a 7-year-old Mexican child into the United States. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.
Naidelyn Yuliana Vielma Jimenez, 22, from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and Bianca Jackeline Vielma Jimenez, 23, from Laredo, pleaded guilty in September and October of 2024. They have each received a 36-month prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release as decided by U.S. District Judge Diana Saldaña.
The incident occurred on July 9, 2024, when the sisters arrived at the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge in Laredo with their 16-year-old sister and a young boy. They claimed to be one family unit and identified the boy as their 15-year-old brother.
Authorities were presented with a video and photograph purportedly showing the boy with their family along with documents belonging to their actual brother. However, law enforcement suspected that the child in question was younger than claimed and further investigation confirmed he was not related to them.
The sisters eventually confessed to an agreement where they would smuggle the child into the United States and transport him to San Antonio for $3,000.
Ganjei commented on the broader implications of such actions: “Prior open border policies have inflicted an incalculable human toll, much of which has unfortunately fallen upon innocent children,” he said. “The Department of Justice, and, in particular, the Southern District of Texas will do whatever it takes to destroy the market for trafficking and smuggling of children.”
Both women are allowed to remain on bond until they voluntarily surrender to a designated U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility.
The investigation was conducted by Customs and Border Protection while Assistant U.S. Attorney Jose Homero Ramirez prosecuted the case.