United States v. Stacey Lynn Merkt and John B. Elder

EDITH HOLLAN JONES, Circuit Judge:

In August 1984, Jose Andres Mendez-Valle and Maria Calletano Rosales-Cruz, El Salvadoran citizens, along with three El Salvadoran juveniles (hereinafter collectively referred to as “illegal aliens” or “aliens”) left El Salvador. 1 Having reached Saltillo, Mexico, by bus, Mendez-Valle contacted relatives in Washington, D.C., who instructed him to remain in Mexico until further notice. Several weeks later, two American women came and took the aliens to a church in Matamoros, Mexico, near the Rio Grande River. The aliens spent the night at the church and, the…