Amado Torres Vega Is In Jail For Selling Poor, Mexican Babies, But Is He A Criminal Or A Hero?
27 January 2009, 6:01 PM. By Cindy Casares
Amado Torres Vega is being held in a Mexican state prison in Reynosa, Tamaulipas for allegedly brokering the adoption of babies from Mexico to families in the United States. Vega, 64, of Harlingen, Texas has been accused by authorities in Reynosa of arranging the sale of more than a dozen children, mostly from the town of Rio Bravo, also in Tamaulipas. Vega claims he accepted no money for his work, which he calls legitimate, but even if he did get paid, is he really doing such a bad thing?
At least six of the birthmothers have also been arrested with some testifying that Vega snuck them into the United States just before the babies were born so their children could be more easily adopted as U.S. citizens. Vega was originally arrested in May on child trafficking charges made formal by Tamaulipas state Judge Hiram Mascorro Garcia, but Garcia stepped down recently leaving the case in judicial limbo. Meanwhile, Vega claims his adoption work is a legitimate act of charity. We can’t say we totally disagree with him. Women interviewed by The Brownsville Herald, a local Texas paper, told reporters they sold their infants for reasons ranging from paying for their older children’s cancer treatment and their own AIDS medication to harvesting the umbilical chords for stem cell research for their other chronically ill children. FBI agents who interviewed several U.S. families who adopted children from Torres decided not to press charges because of the ongoing case against him in Mexico. If Vega is convicted, he could face up to 12 years in a Mexican prison. What do you guys think? Is Amado Torres Vega a saint or a sinner?
Alleged baby broker remains in Mexican judicial limbo [The Brownsville Herald]
Mothers who allegedly sold babies endured difficult lives [The Brownsville Herald]
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This kind of thing is not uncommon in the border area. The mothers usually have no way to care for the children financially and it’s a sad situation all around. No easy answers.
He maybe a saint, but he still broke the law. Damn you modernity, damn you to hell!
He’s selling people. How can that ever be a good thing? Come on, Guanabee…
This has ridiculous publisher angle written all over it. Like, sweatshops save people, right?
not really. when you think about what kind of life these kids would have if they stayed with their birthmoms. I mean, obvs. it would be preferential for these women not to have babies to bail themselves out of a bad situation. but once they’ve decided to do it, at least this guy gets the babies to a family with better means. not to mention a life in the u.s.
Perhaps the prople who are against Mr. Torres are more in favor of abortion or poverty for these kids? I don’t know of any adoption agency that doesn’t charge a heafy amount for placing the babies, so how is this different? Just on a smaller scale, right? Do you say placement agencies don’t “sell babies” by their charges? At least these kids get a loving prosperous home to grow up in instead of a doctor’s wastebasket.
My daughter was next on the list to receive a baby. She went through a lot of expenses for this. Home studies were done. Yes, I think Torres should be prosecuted, what he has been doing is definitely illegal.l