California resident sentenced for smuggling people across border into Whatcom County
A Santa Rosa, California resident was sentenced to six months in prison Wednesday for his role in illegally smuggling noncitizens across the northern border, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
The office said 35-year-old Sushil Kumar, a citizen of India, and three others operated a Santa Rosa-based smuggling organization. According to court records, the organization directed noncitizens to travel to Peace Arch Park in Canada, and then helped them cross the border illegally before transporting them to “various locations” in Washington and throughout the U.S.
Homeland Security Investigations and Border Patrol Intelligence launched an investigation into Kumar after a motion-activated camera caught five people jumping a fence near the Boundary Village Apartments in Blaine on Nov. 27, 2023. The people got into a white minivan, according to court documents, and were stopped by U.S. Border Patrol officers.
The five people who jumped the fence were citizens of India without documentation to enter the U.S. They each paid the smuggling organization between $5,000 and $10,000 to cross the border, according to court records.
The passengers in the minivan told agents they saw Kumar at Peace Arch Park and communicated with him over WhatsApp ahead of time, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. They said Kumar told them where to jump the fence and how to find the van that would pick them up in the U.S.
The driver of the minivan, 68-year-old Bobby Joe Green, said he was paid $500 each time he picked up and transported people across the border. Green is a California resident and U.S. citizen.
“Smuggling of noncitizens is a dangerous scheme that profits from exploiting vulnerable individuals while undermining the United States’ ability to regulate its borders and exposing our nation to potential security threats,” prosecutors wrote to the court ahead of Kumal’s sentencing.
Two other citizens of India indicted for the smuggling operation — 26-year-old Rajat Rajat and 20-year-old Sneha — were arrested about one month later for allegedly bringing three Indian citizens across the border.
Kumal was sentenced to six months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release for “conspiracy to bring in and transport certain aliens for profit.” Rajat and Green pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing. Sneha is scheduled to go to trial in May.