(DC Pundit) – Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently conducted a raid on Abby’s Bakery in South Texas, resulting in the arrest of eight illegal aliens and leaving the bakery’s owners facing serious charges of harboring and abetting criminals. It seems the only thing rising at this bakery was the risk of federal prosecution.
The bakery owners, Leonardo Baez and Nora Alicia Avila-Guel, allegedly admitted to knowingly hiring and sheltering illegal aliens – a flagrant violation of federal law that not only undermines our immigration system but also exacerbates the ongoing border crisis. Now, you might think these bakery owners were simply trying to provide an opportunity to hard-working individuals. But when you knowingly break the law to do it, it’s not about compassion, it’s about exploiting a broken system for personal gain.
It’s always the same story, isn’t it? These businesses want cheap labor, so they hire illegal aliens and turn a blind eye to the law. They don’t care about the consequences for our country; they only care about their bottom line. It’s a disgrace.
Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) confirmed that the pair was charged with bringing in and harboring aliens and aiding and abetting the harboring of aliens, offenses that carry serious penalties under U.S. law. If convicted, Baez and Avila-Guel could face significant fines and even prison time.
NEW: ICE & HSI in the RGV conducted a worksite operation at a bakery in Los Fresnos, TX, arresting 8 illegal alien employees and charging the owners with federal felonies for harboring & aiding the illegal aliens via 8 USC 1324. This is the law Tom Homan has been repeatedly… pic.twitter.com/GZNgikx672
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) February 21, 2025
Instead of reporting the illegal aliens to authorities or complying with federal employment laws, the bakery owners allegedly chose to harbor them, even providing shelter for some of the individuals on their own property. It seems they were more concerned with keeping their labor costs down than upholding the rule of law.
The Texas Tribune reported: “Agents conducted a “worksite enforcement action” at Abby’s Bakery in Los Fresnos and apprehended eight immigrant workers on Feb. 12 following a tip the agency received in December, according to Special Agent Dillon Duke with Homeland Security Investigations, who testified during a preliminary hearing Friday morning.
Six of the immigrants were in the country on temporary visas that do not grant them permission to work in the U.S. It is unclear if they were in the U.S. longer than their visas permitted, but immigration officials have since removed them to Mexico.
The tipster informed the agency that the business owners were harboring and employing immigrants without pay, Duke said. However, when the agents questioned an employee, he said he received $8 per hour. During the raid of the business — which also includes Dulce’s Cafe — agents also searched an apartment located on the side of the building where several of the employees lived. Duke described the apartment as a rectangular room with six beds along the wall, two bathrooms and no kitchen. The windows were covered with cardboard.
Agents also questioned the couple, who allegedly admitted they knew their employees were not authorized to work in the U.S.”
The conditions described paint a disturbing picture of exploitation and disregard for human dignity. Six beds crammed into a rectangular room, windows covered with cardboard – it sounds more like a sweatshop than a bakery.
The couple’s attorneys argued during a court hearing on Friday that offering shelter to their employees did not constitute an attempt to hide them from authorities and that there was no evidence suggesting the employees were prohibited from leaving the apartment.
They attempted to sugarcoat the situation, but the judge wasn’t buying it, setting a $100,000 bond with a $15,000 cash deposit for each defendant. This sends a clear message that the courts are taking this case seriously and that there will be consequences for those who violate our immigration laws.
We need to secure our borders, enforce our laws, and hold accountable those who seek to profit from the broken system.
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