Ironically enough, this story first broke around Valentine’s Day this year, but I was otherwise occupied, so you’re getting it now.
Anyway, a 52-year-old U.S. Customs and Border Protection supervisor out of Laredo, Texas, has been hit with federal charges for allegedly harboring an undocumented immigrant. And before you picture some low-level hire who accidentally handcuffed himself to a urinal, Andres Wilkinson has been with CBP since 2001. He was promoted to a supervisory role in 2021, where his literal duties included overseeing the enforcement of immigration laws. This isn’t some fresh-faced recruit with a signing bonus burning a hole in his pocket. This is a career agent who knew exactly what the rules were, because enforcing them was part of his job description.
However, Wilkinson wasn’t harboring just any undocumented person. The woman at the center of this case allegedly had quite a few connections to Wilkinson. Get out your pushpins and red string because here we go.
The woman Wilkinson was to be harboring was also, reportedly, his girlfriend. She is also allegedly his niece, believed to be the daughter of a man Wilkinson listed as his brother in a 2023 background investigation.
She also had a husband, who filed a green card petition on her behalf in January 2024, only to withdraw it in April 2025. And just to add one more layer to this already confusing cake, investigators aren’t even certain whether the alleged uncle-niece relationship is by blood or by marriage, or whether ‘uncle’ was being used in the informal way that sometimes denotes a close family friend rather than an actual relative.
So, did you get all that?
Because honestly, if this had been an episode of the Jerry Springer show, I would have turned it off for being too unbelievable, and I watch pro wrestling.
Back to the serious part, though. Wilkinson allegedly provided the woman with housing, credit cards, financial assistance, and access to vehicles registered in his name. He reportedly drove her through Border Patrol checkpoints, you know, the very checkpoints his agency operates. A document investigators found shows he personally confirmed to a third-party health organization that she and her children had been living in his home as part of his household.
So I have to ask, how exactly are we supposed to have any respect for CBP, DHS, or ICE agents in the field if this is how a 25-year veteran supervisor regards the laws he was sworn to enforce? If the people at the top of the food chain treat immigration law as something that applies to everyone except the people in their own house, why should anyone take their agency’s authority seriously?
Wilkinson faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. Whether that actually happens remains to be seen. But the charges alone say plenty.
(Sources)
Old Man Trench 
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