American marries Mexican on river border between countries

Stephanie Guerra, 26, and Ruben Alfonso Fierro, 27, defied the swirling currents of the Rio Grande and boarded a Zodiac raft that took them from the Mexican border town of Nuevo Laredo to the United States. Guerra is a US citizen, but Fierro is not.

The couple have four young children, all US citizens. Fierro had been living for years in the United States but had not legally immigrated. When he temporarily left the country, he was not allowed to return.

The fastest way for the family to reunite was to tie the knot in the United States. Guerra and Fierro cleverly took advantage of an 1848 treaty that allows free navigation for both sides along the Rio Grande, the river that forms nearly half of the 3,200 kilometer (2,000 mile) long US border with Mexico.

Judge Hector Liendo from Laredo, Texas climbed aboard the couple's raft - in the river but technically in US territory - and held the ceremony that legally bound the couple until death does them apart.

Source: ARAB NEWS.