Democrat’s Son in Prison for Smuggling Illegal Aliens
by Emily Miller
10/19/2010
The son of Rep. Allen Boyd (D.-Fla.) is in prison for smuggling illegal aliens across the Mexican border, calling into question Boyd’s commitment to securing borders and voting on immigration legislation in the House.
The congressman’s son, John Boyd, is currently in federal prison after pleading guilty to the felony charge of conspiracy to transport and harbor illegal aliens for profit. Boyd charged the four illegal aliens $3,000 each—$12,000 total—“to be smuggled into the United States and transported to their final destination.”
According to the Bureau of Prisons, John Boyd is in the Federal Correction Institution, a medium security prison in Yazoo City, Miss. He is serving a 30-month sentence. His projected release date is April 10, 2011.
Speaking of Boyd's father, Congressman Allen Boyd, Steve Camarota of the Center for Immigration Studies, said that, “given that he has a weak record on enforcement and his son is explicitly an alien smuggler and serving time for that, it is reasonable to wonder about his commitment to securing our borders and enforcing our laws.”
Until recently, Boyd was one of two Democrats on the Congressional Immigration Reform Caucus, but he is no longer a member of the caucus.
NumbersUSA grades every Member of Congress based on votes on immigration issues. The group gave Boyd a C+ on reducing illegal immigration at the borders, and a D+ overall for this term.
Rep. Boyd is in a tight re-election campaign against Republican Steve Southerland for Florida’s 2nd District. Calls to Boyd’s congressional offices and campaign were not returned.
John Boyd was caught at a United States Border Patrol Checkpoint in Arizona in September 2008 with four illegal immigrants in his white Ford pickup truck. According to the federal criminal complaint, “the four individuals all admitted that they were not citizens or nationals of the United States and that they did not have permission to be in the United States legally.”
Boyd used a 6 year old girl (unrelated to him) as a decoy to appear as a family man in a failed attempt to get past the border patrol without being checked. "Inside the truck Agents found an unaccompanied 6 year old female juvenile in the passenger seat who was not wearing a seatbelt," stated the complaint.
The four aliens had walked through the desert, spent two days in a trailer, and then were picked up by Boyd who attempted to smuggle them past the border checkpoint. He was caught when border inspection agents found two aliens “laying on the floorboard behind the front seat” and two others “hiding under the piece of plywood in the bed of the truck.”
At a second checkpoint, border agents found in Boyd’s truck a “Beretta 22LR pistol loaded with eight rounds of ammunition and a spare magazine loaded with eight rounds of ammunition in a suitcase in the bed of the truck.” Boyd was also in possession of “several rocks of crystal methamphetamine, four opened syringes, a spoon with white residue and burn marks on the bottom and three knives.”
After his son’s arrest, Congressman Boyd did not call for stronger border security, nor use his position to push for immigration control measures. Instead, he said the federal crime was “a family matter that my family and I will be dealing with privately.”
Rep. Boyd also said in a statement that “John is a grown man and must face the consequences for his action, but he has the love and support of his family.” Whether or not the congressman has visited his son in prison is unclear.
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Miss Miller is a senior editor of HUMAN EVENTS. Previously, she served as the deputy press secretary at the State Department during the George W. Bush administration and the communications director to the House Majority Whip, Tom DeLay. Miller also served as an associate producer at ABC News and started her career at NBC News. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
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