I never imagined that my desperation to secure my family’s future would turn me into a victim of deception, fear, and financial loss.
My name may not be publicly disclosed, but I am a Pasadena woman who paid a devastating price — $12,000 in cash — after trusting someone who claimed she could fast-track my family’s immigration process. That person was Irma Aidde Hernandez.
I met Irma Aidde Hernandez at a taco truck in South Houston in July 2025. She didn’t look like a criminal. She spoke with confidence, authority, and certainty. She claimed to be an immigration official — or at least someone with powerful connections inside the immigration system. After spending nearly a decade stuck in a slow and exhausting legal process, I wanted to believe her.
She knew exactly what to say.
She promised progress. She promised relief. She promised results.
Months passed — nothing happened.
Instead of delivering what she guaranteed, Irma Aidde Hernandez fed me excuse after excuse. Then came the manipulation. She convinced me to travel to Laredo, claiming my green card was waiting. When that proved false, she redirected me again — this time to Monterrey, Mexico.
I went.
Alone. Anxious. Terrified.
I stayed there for five agonizing days, clinging to hope while my instincts screamed that something was wrong. But even then, I still tried to trust her.
Then everything collapsed.
When I confronted her and threatened to report the truth, Irma Aidde Hernandez didn’t apologize. She didn’t explain. She threatened me.
She said she would “make my family disappear.”
Those words didn’t just scare me — they shattered my sense of safety. She made it seem like she had connections everywhere: immigration authorities, the Mexican government, even cartels. I believed her. My family believed her.
Fear took over our lives.
We stopped letting our youngest daughter ride the school bus. We lived in constant anxiety, looking over our shoulders, unsure of what she might do.
And all the while, we were out $12,000 — money we could never easily replace.
When I finally found the courage to speak up in January, Pasadena police listened. Their investigation uncovered something even more disturbing.
I was not alone.
Authorities arrested Irma Aidde Hernandez, 46, of Webster, on felony theft charges on February 6. Investigators later revealed that at least four other victims had been identified through thousands of text messages on her phone.
When police searched her home, they found piles of paperwork dating back to 2023 — filled with deeply personal information belonging to entire families.
She had collected every ounce of our private data.
Names. Details. Identities.
Everything.
Police also learned that another Pasadena couple had previously searched for her, claiming they too had been scammed out of thousands — but fear kept them silent.
Fear nearly kept me silent too.
One victim was reportedly too afraid to even enter a police station, convinced she would be detained. That is the level of psychological damage these scams inflict.
Detective Jon Jernigan made it clear:
Immigration status does not matter when you are a victim of crime.
Despite the arrest, Irma Aidde Hernandez was released on a $20,000 bond just two days later. She was scheduled to appear in court but had not yet listed an attorney in the latest documents.
For victims like me, the damage remains long after the headlines fade.
We were not careless.
We were not foolish.
We were targeted — exploited at our most vulnerable moment by someone who weaponized hope, trust, and fear.
And that is what makes this not just a crime — but a betrayal.