CBP leader arrested: Supervisor allegedly hid and supported illegal alien 'niece' for over a year

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer was arrested and charged this week with allegedly harboring and transporting an illegal alien who prosecutors claim is his niece.

If convicted, Andres Wilkinson III — a CBP supervisory officer who has worked for the agency since May 2001 — faces up to a decade in prison and a potential $250,000 fine.

The CBP Office of Professional Responsibility received information from Homeland Security Investigations in April 2025 that Elva Edith Garcia-Vallejo, the daughter of a man whom Wilkinson listed as a brother in his 2023 background investigation, was allegedly living with the CBP officer at his residence in Laredo, Texas.

'Financially supported her by providing his credit cards, housing, and assistance with her financial obligations.'

Garcia-Vallejo's residency was problematic because she is a foreign national who lacks legal authorization to be in the homeland, which Wilkinson knew, federal prosecutors claimed.

According to the criminal complaint, Garcia-Vallejo entered the U.S. in August 2023 using her nonimmigrant visa number and secured a I-94 travel permit as a temporary visitor for pleasure/tourism to San Antonio — a permit that expired on Feb. 4, 2024.

North of the border, Garcia-Vallejo temporarily resided with her Laredo-based husband, Juan Rodriguez, who filed and then withdrew an immigration petition for her to become a legal resident.

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Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

In May 2025 — eight months after Garcia-Vallejo's last known entry into the U.S. using her B1/B2 nonimmigrant visa number and two months after her travel permit expired — the CBP OPR allegedly spotted Garcia-Vallejo and her daughter meet with Wilkinson outside the Harmony School of Science in Laredo.

Investigators followed the mother — who had no pending immigration applications — and daughter back to their dwelling place. At the time, Garcia-Vallejo was driving a Toyota Rav4 registered to Wilkinson, the criminal complaint said.

Over the next several months, CBP OPR conducted surveillance at the residence and allegedly observed Garcia-Vallejo come and go. They also claimed to have spotted her driving another vehicle registered to Wilkinson.

Finally, on Feb. 5, CBP OPR detained Garcia-Vallejo, who allegedly admitted that she had been living with her "uncle" since at least August 2024; that he had "financially supported her by providing his credit cards, housing, and assistance with her financial obligations, including medical debt, and by adding her to his vehicle insurance," said the complaint.

The supposed niece also admitted to allegedly crossing U.S. Border Patrol checkpoints in a vehicle driven by Wilkinson on multiple occasions.

The criminal complaint refers to Wilkinson in one instance as his supposed niece's "boyfriend" and the DOJ noted in its corresponding release that the two were "romantically involved," but neither document offered supporting details for that characterization of their relationship. While the complaint indicates Garcia-Vallejo is the daughter of the officer's brother, it did not specify whether they are indeed blood relatives.

CBP did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News. Attorneys for Garcia-Vallejo and Wilkinson did not respond to a request for comment from the Guardian.

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