The criminal case against Raquel López Aguilar — an undocumented father of two from the state of Chiapas living in Tampa and working as a roofer — is the first case in which a Mexican national has been charged under a new Florida law targeting people who drive undocumented migrants into the state.
At the direction of President Andres Manuel López Obrador, Mexican diplomatic officials in Florida are ramping up efforts to defend Mexicans accused of violating DeSantis’ new law, including López Aguilar.
“The Mexican government is sending us resources to pay for this case,” said the Mexican consul in Orlando, Juan Sabines, in an interview Wednesday with the Herald/Times while he drove to visit López Aguilar at a jail in Hernando County.
Sabines called the state’s case against López Aguilar, 41, “complete injustice,” and vital to future cases prosecuted under the state law because it will set the legal precedent. Sabines said he has told López Aguilar that “while you might be a victim today, you could be a hero.”
Driving to Tampa leads to felony charges
López Aguilar is accused of violating a state provision that makes it a human smuggling third-degree felony to “knowingly and willfully” transport undocumented immigrants into the state, an offense punishable byfive years in prison.
The law says that a person can’t transport into Florida “an individual whom the person knows, or reasonably knows, has entered the United States in violation of the law and has not been inspected by the federal government since his or her unlawful entry.”
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