South Texas bakery owners housed undocumented workers next to business before ICE raid, feds allege in hearing

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BROWNSVILLE — The owners of a South Texas bakery accused of illegally hiring undocumented immigrants were also housing their employees next to the business, a detail that a federal judge ruled was sufficient to charge the couple with harboring the workers.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen L. Betancourt ruled there was probable cause to believe that Leonardo Baez and Nora Alicia Avila-Guel broke the law by "harboring aliens" following testimony that the couple knew they employed workers who couldn’t legally work in the U.S. and sheltered them in an apartment adjacent to their business.

Agents conducted a "worksite enforcement action" at Abby's Bakery in Los Fresnos and apprehended eight immigrant workers on Feb. 12 following a tip the agency received in December, according to Special Agent Dillon Duke with Homeland Security Investigations, who testified during a preliminary hearing Friday morning.

Six of the immigrants were in the country on temporary visas that do not grant them permission to work in the U.S. It is unclear if they were in the U.S. longer than their visas permitted, but immigration officials have since removed them to Mexico.

The tipster informed the agency that the business owners were harboring and employing immigrants without pay, Duke said. However, when the agents questioned an employee, he said he received $8 per hour.

During the raid of the business — which also includes Dulce’s Cafe — agents also searched an apartment located on the side of the building where several of the employees lived. Duke described the apartment as a rectangular room with six beds along the wall, two bathrooms and no kitchen. The windows were covered with cardboard.

Agents also questioned the couple, who allegedly admitted they knew their employees were not authorized to work in the U.S.

"They stated that they knew this would happen one day," Duke said.

The attorneys representing the couple argued that providing shelter to the employees was not evidence that the couple was trying to conceal them from detection and that there was no evidence the employees weren't allowed to leave the apartment.

"There was no concealment," said Sergio Villarreal, Baez's attorney, who argued that to find probable cause for harboring required a “shady act.”

The judge disagreed and set a $100,000 bond with a $15,000 cash deposit for each.

After the hearing, the attorney for Avila-Guel, Jaime Diez, said the case was unusual and could cause fear among business owners who provide housing for their employees.

"It's a really scary thought," Diez said. "Their whole life right now is shattered."

Baez and Avila-Guel have five children between the ages of 10 and 31.

Both are legal residents of the U.S. and moved to the Rio Grande Valley from Mexico more than 20 years ago, according to David Avila, Avila-Guel's brother.

He said the couple were hard-working people and said his sister was living the American dream.

"This is just a stain," he said.

Reporting in the Rio Grande Valley is supported in part by the Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.

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