The Biden-Harris administration repeatedly claimed they were protecting immigrants and fighting human trafficking.
Their open border policies enabled criminal networks to flourish.
But now this Mexican national just got sent to prison after one of the most horrifying labor trafficking schemes exposed to date.
Connecticut labor trafficking ring preyed on desperate immigrants
Apolinar Francisco Paredes Espinoza, also known as “Pancho,” was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison on Wednesday for running a sophisticated labor trafficking operation that enslaved 19 victims, including minors.
The Mexican national, who had been deported twice before, was also ordered to pay $574,608 in restitution alongside his co-conspirators.
According to court documents and statements made in court, victims typically arranged with Paredes’ co-conspirator Maria Del Carmen Sanchez Potrero and others in Connecticut and Mexico to cross the border into the U.S. in exchange for a fee of between $15,000 and $20,000 that each would need to pay once they were in the U.S.
But what started as a promise of the American Dream quickly turned into a nightmare for the victims.
In most cases, the victims were required to turn over a property deed as collateral before leaving Mexico.
The smugglers then transported their human cargo across the border and to Hartford area residences, including a house on Madison Street where Paredes and Sanchez lived.
They were then smuggled across the border and transported to Hartford area residences, including Sanchez’s and Paredes’ residence on Madison Street in Hartford, often at a substantial risk of bodily injury or death.
Victims trapped in web of debt and threats
Once the victims arrived in Connecticut, the real horror began.
The traffickers immediately changed the terms of their deal, demanding nearly double what was originally agreed upon.
Once in Connecticut, victims were told that they would have to pay approximately $30,000, with interest, and that they would have to pay Sanchez and her co-conspirators for rent, food, gas, and utilities.
To maintain control over their victims, the trafficking ring created an elaborate system of false documents and forced labor.
Sanchez, Paredes, and their co-conspirators created false documents for the victims, including Permanent Residence Cards (also known as Green Cards) and Social Security cards, and helped the victims find employment in the Hartford area. In addition to their own jobs, some victims were required to perform housework and yardwork, or to assist Paredes in his job responsibilities, without compensation and without having their debt reduced.
The traffickers used brutal intimidation tactics to keep their victims in line.
If victims failed to make regular payments, or in amounts that Sanchez, Paredes and their co-conspirators expected, they were sometimes threatened, including with threats to harm family members in Mexico, to take property in Mexico that had been secured as collateral, to reveal victims’ immigration status to U.S. authorities, and to raise their interest payments.
Criminal had been deported twice before
What makes this case even more outrageous is that Paredes should never have been in the country in the first place.
Federal authorities revealed a pattern of illegal reentry that spans nearly a decade.
In November 2014, Paredes was encountered in the U.S. and removed the same day via foot at Hidalgo, Texas.
But deportation didn’t stop him from returning to continue his criminal enterprise.
He illegally reentered the U.S. and, in December 2018, was arrested by East Hartford Police and charged with various motor vehicle offenses.
Even after being deported a second time, Paredes came right back.
He was again removed to Mexico in February 2019, and subsequently illegally reentered the U.S.
Vulnerable minors among the victims
Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this trafficking operation was its targeting of children.
To date, investigators have identified 19 victims of this scheme. Multiple victims were minors, and at least two were smuggled into the U.S. unaccompanied by a relative or legal guardian.
These children were brought across the border alone, forced into debt bondage, and made to work without pay while living under constant threats.
The investigation that finally brought down this trafficking ring involved multiple federal agencies, including the FBI, Hartford Police Department, U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Angel Krull and Shan Patel prosecuted the case in federal court.
Biden’s border policies enabled human trafficking
This case exposes the dark reality of what happens when border security is weakened and immigration laws aren’t enforced.
Paredes was deported twice but kept coming back because he knew the border was essentially open for business.
He and his co-conspirators operated their trafficking ring for years, destroying lives and families while enriching themselves off the misery of their victims.
The victims thought they were paying for a chance at the American Dream but instead found themselves trapped in modern-day slavery.
They were forced to work multiple jobs, perform unpaid labor, and live in constant fear while their traffickers collected every penny they earned.
Meanwhile, the Biden-Harris administration continued to claim their border policies were “humane” while cases like this prove the exact opposite.
When criminals know they can cross the border repeatedly without consequences, it’s innocent people who pay the price.
These 19 victims, including children who were smuggled alone, suffered years of exploitation because a twice-deported criminal was able to waltz back into the country and set up shop in Connecticut.
Now Paredes faces deportation again after his prison sentence ends.
But without serious border security reforms, what’s to stop him from coming back a fourth time?
The victims in this case deserve justice, and that means ensuring their traffickers can never hurt anyone else again.
It also means securing the border so criminal networks can’t use it as a revolving door for their operations.
