Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Israeli-American sentenced to time served in border smuggling case

Prosecutors said that he tried to bring a man, who was hiding under luggage in the back of a vehicle, into the United States through a border crossing.

Close-up of a wooden gavel. Credit: Sora Shimazaki/Pexels.
Close-up of a wooden gavel. Credit: Sora Shimazaki/Pexels.

Israeli-American citizen Israel Enden, 46, was sentenced to time served in federal court in Buffalo, N.Y., after pleading guilty to bringing an unauthorized migrant into the United States from Canada, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York said that U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers stopped Enden, who was born in the United States, at the Rainbow Bridge crossing on Jan. 8 after he failed to produce a rental agreement for the Canadian-plated vehicle he was driving.

During a secondary inspection, officers found Israeli citizen Elazar Wigdorowitz hiding under luggage in the vehicle.

Investigators said that the men had flown together from Warsaw to Toronto the previous day and that Enden knew that Wigdorowitz lacked authorization to enter the United States.

Wigdorowitz previously pleaded guilty to improper entry by an alien, was sentenced to time served and was transferred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.

“If Michigan Hillel wants to remain the center of Jewish life on campus, it cannot retreat from one of the central and challenging parts of being Jewish there,” Seth Mendel, of CAMERA, told JNS.
Three other soldiers were lightly wounded when the military vehicle overturned.
“Jewish New Yorkers deserve to mourn in peace, free from hatred and intimidation,” stated New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. “There is no excuse for this. None.”
The matter now goes to the European Council, which determines political matters for the European Union.