U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on April 24, 2025, that it assisted in an investigation leading to the sentencing of Maria Del Carmen Sanchez Potrero, a/k/a Maria Carmela Sanchez, to 51 months’ imprisonment for her involvement in a smuggling and labor trafficking scheme. Among other things, USCIS said that victims paid Ms. Sanchez fees of $15,000 to $20,000 to be smuggled across the border into the United States and transported to the Hartford, Connecticut, area, where they were told they’d have to pay approximately $30,000 in addition.
Ms. Sanchez and her co-conspirators created false documents, including green cards, for the 19 victims, many of whom were minors, and helped them find employment in the Hartford area. In addition to their own jobs, some victims were required to perform housework and yardwork without compensation and without having their debt reduced, USCIS said.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Hartford Police Department, U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Inspector General, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, USCIS, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.