The man who wed his bride last month when the gate separating the United States and Mexico opened for a few short minutes couldn’t cross the border because of a drug smuggling conviction.
Brian Houston married his Mexican fiancee Evelia Reyes in a surprise wedding at the opening of the “Door of Hope” along the border between San Diego and Tijuana because he said he could not enter Mexico. The Door of Hope is an initiative organized by the Border Angels nonprofit group to allow loved ones separated by the border three minutes to briefly reunite.
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Reyes appeared on the Mexican side of the border in a white wedding gown, and Houston on the American side in a grey suit. They each brought their own wedding rings because items can’t be exchanged at the border, Global News previously reported. Houston declined to explain why he couldn’t cross the border at the time.
A background check, later on, revealed that Houston is awaiting sentencing in San Diego federal court on a drug smuggling conviction, which Border Control didn’t discover before clearing him to participate in the ceremony at Border Field State Park.
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The San Diego Union Tribune reports that Houston was arrested in February while crossing through the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Hidden in his vehicle were 43 pounds of heroin, 47 pounds of methamphetamine and 43 pounds of cocaine. He pleaded guilty in May to importing the three drugs.
“The agents are upset, feel like they were taken advantage of, feel like they were duped,” Joshua Wilson, vice-president and spokesman for the National Border Patrol Council Local 1613, told the Union Tribune.
“Turns out, we provided armed security for a cartel wedding,” Wilson continued.
The Door of Hope has opened six times since 2013.
In order to participate in the events, families who cannot cross the border legally must participate in questionnaires, and the forms are provided to the Border Control for approval, reports the Union Tribune.
“Border Angels has never done any background checks, as the Border Patrol advised us they will do all background checks and advise us which families have been cleared,” Border Angels executive director Enrique Morones told the Union Tribune on Wednesday.
“That goes against everything Border Angels stands for,” Morones added.