Gambiaj.com – (VERMONT, United States) – A 24-year-old Senegalese national is among 60 people prosecuted by US authorities in Vermont over unlawful crossings along the country’s northern border with Canada, highlighting the increasingly diverse migration routes being used to enter the United States.
The Senegalese national, identified by US authorities as Maimouna Diakhate, 24, wife of famous Senegalese social media preacher Cheikh Ahmed Cissé, was arrested after Border Patrol agents discovered a group of migrants hiding in woodland near Highgate, Vermont, on June 20.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Vermont said the prosecutions were brought over a six-week period beginning May 22, 2026, following a significant increase in unlawful crossing activity along the Vermont-Canada border.
The Senegalese woman pleads guilty.
The 60 defendants came from 20 countries, including Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea, Angola, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, China, India, Iran, Jamaica, Mexico, Romania, Spain, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and others.
According to court records, Border Patrol detected a suspected border crossing at about 4pm. Roughly two and a half hours later, agents found six people hiding in the woods near a rural road.
They included Colombian national Sidney Lauryn Parra Torres, 24, a woman from the Congo, and her four children, aged between two and 14.
Diakhate was subsequently apprehended at a nearby residence.
A Toyota Prius that had previously attracted the attention of authorities in connection with suspected migrant smuggling was also found in the area near the Highgate Port of Entry.
The vehicle was stopped, and its driver was identified as Oguzhan Yilmaz, 25, a Turkish national. Investigators said Yilmaz had received payments through Zelle from Parra Torres.
Diakhate pleaded guilty to illegal entry on June 22 before US Magistrate Judge Kevin J. Doyle and was sentenced to time already served.
Wider crackdown
The case involving Diakhate was one of several prosecutions arising from increased enforcement activity along Vermont’s northern border.
Four of the 60 defendants were charged with felony alien-smuggling offences, while another was charged with felony unlawful reentry after previously being removed from the United States.
The remaining defendants, including Diakhate, were charged with misdemeanor illegal entry.
The case places one of Senegal’s nationals within a broader international migration crackdown at a US border that has traditionally received less attention than the southern border with Mexico. The Vermont prosecutions show that migrants from West Africa and other parts of the world are also appearing along alternative routes into the United States through Canada.
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