Sri Lankans detained at McAllen Airport

A man accused of aiding three Sri Lankan nationals to enter the USA illegally was set to make an early Court appearance.

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Suresh Suntharalingam, 38, of Canada, on Wednesday, after customs inspectors at McAllen-Miller International Airport found him holding plane tickets for the three illegal immigrants carrying fake Canadian identification cards.

The men later told authorities that their families had paid $32,000 to Suntharalingam to guide them to Canada through Mexico and the United States.

After flying into Mexico City and travelling to the border, the group snuck across the Rio Grande by boat on December 28. They had been in a McAllen hotel ever since, according to a criminal complaint filed in Suntharalingam's case.

All four men made their initial appearances in Federal Court Thursday and spoke with the judge via a teleconference with a translator fluent in Tamil.

The Monitor