Brian Houston and his Mexican fiance got hitched during a Boarder Patrol approved wedding at the San Diego boarder- what authorities didn’t know was the groom plead guilty to drug smuggling charges months earlier.
Houston and wife to be, Evelia Reyes, were approved to wed in a special ceremony at Friendship Park in November. Border Angels, a non-profit that organizes the event, says they never do the background checks, but provides applicants with a questionnaire. Those that applied are then federally background checked by Boarder Patrol.
The groom said at the time they were marrying in the special ceremony because he could not cross the boarder- but declined to elaborate. He failed to mention his February arrest in which agents say they found 43 pounds of heroin, 47 pounds of methamphetamine and 43 pounds of cocaine in his Volkswagen as he crossed through the San Ysidro Port of Entry.
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Bride Evelia Reyes and groom Brian Houston pose for pictures after marrying at an open gate on the US-Mexico border at Playas de Tijuana, Mexico before Boarder Patrol realized Houston plead guilty to drug smuggling charges
Wedding cake on Boarder Patrol’s face: Though Houston was federally background checked- his felony smuggling arrest did not appear initially
‘The agents are upset, feel like they were taken advantage of, feel like they were duped,’ said Joshua Wilson, vice president and spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council Local 1613 to the San Diego Tribune. ‘Turns out we provided armed security for a cartel wedding.’
Boarder Angeles executive director Enrique Morones said in a statement Wednesday: ‘Border Angels has never done any background checks, as the Border Patrol advised us they will do all background checks and advise us which families have been cleared.’
Border Patrol spokesperson Takae Michael said Houston was ‘screened through an internal vetting process based on biographical information provided to us’ by Morones. ‘A review of the provided information, through our DHS systems, did not indicate criminal activity,’ Michael said.
The Border Patrol said that after the wedding, ‘a subsequent review of Houston’s information was completed and confirmed a match for a previous arrest for drug smuggling.’
Because of this incident, future events like this are in jeopardy.
Morones says he plans to meet with San Diego’s new Border Patrol Chief Rodney Scott to discuss the incident.
‘We were shocked to learn this past week of Brian Houston’s very serious criminal situation. That goes against everything Border Angels stands for,’ Morones said. Border Angels is a humanitarian group serving immigrants that started decades ago by leaving water and other supplies in the desert for border crossers.
In the crowd on the Mexican side was Evelia Reyes, who arrived wearing a white wedding dress, a long flowing train and a white veil, waiting to meet her groom, Brian Houston
The heavy steel gate is at Border Field State Park in San Diego, and has opened six times since 2013. It’s in a small strip of land where families from both sides can see one another, but not touch, any time they want
Houston plead guilty in May to smuggling the three drugs and his sentencing is set for February 23, 2018.
The November event was held for one hour to allow a quick meeting for friends and relatives from both sides for the nuptials.
In the crowd on the Mexican side was Evelia Reyes, who arrived wearing a white wedding dress, a long flowing train and a white veil, waiting to meet her groom, Brian Houston.
She was accompanied by three children from her previous marriage, including a young daughter also dressed in white.
‘For a relationship this wall does not exist, for love there are no borders,’ Reyes gushed.
At the gate a Mexican judge promptly married her to Houston, who approached from the US side dressed in a smart grey suit.
The wife of the mayor of Tijuana and the local Mexican Human Rights commissioner served as witnesses.
Reyes, a native of the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, said she met Houston in Tijuana three years ago.
And Houston, a US resident, told the San Diego Tribune he could not visit Tijuana for reasons he wouldn’t elaborate at the time.
The heavy steel gate is at Border Field State Park in San Diego, and has opened six times since 2013. It’s in a small strip of land where families from both sides can see one another, but not touch, any time they want.
She was accompanied by three children from her previous marriage, including a young daughter also dressed in white
At the gate a Mexican judge promptly married her to Houston, who approached from the US side dressed in a smart grey suit
The crowd gathered at the gate under the watchful eye of US Border Patrol agents to witness the joyful moment
The event was organized by Border angels, an immigrant rights advocacy group. The group’s director, Enrique Morones, said there was just enough time at the event for 12 families to reunite