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Jordanian Arrested for Allegedly Smuggling Yemenis into US


A border patrol agent guards a gap in the Mexico-U.S. border fence near McAllen, Texas, April 5, 2018. A Jordanian national was arrested on charges he tried to smuggle six Yemenis across the Mexican border into Texas.
A border patrol agent guards a gap in the Mexico-U.S. border fence near McAllen, Texas, April 5, 2018. A Jordanian national was arrested on charges he tried to smuggle six Yemenis across the Mexican border into Texas.

A federal judge has ordered a Jordanian national to remain behind bars on charges he tried to smuggle six Yemenis into the United States.

Agents arrested Moayad Heider Mohammad Aldairi on Saturday when he arrived at JFK airport in New York.

Aldairi, who lives in Monterrey, Mexico, was allegedly part of a scheme to smuggle six Yemenis across the Mexican border into Texas for a fee.

The Justice Department has not said where the Yemenis are now, who they are, or the reason they wanted to enter the U.S. However, it did call them "special interest aliens" — the government's term for would-be immigrants from countries where terrorism is a problem.

The judge ordered Aldairi to remain in custody in New York, pending a transfer to Texas.

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