INS LAUNCHES MAJOR ANTI-SMUGGLING OPERATION This week INS Commissioner Doris Meissner announced the launch of Operation Denial, a new large-scale effort to counter the growing problem of human smuggling in the southwestern US. Agents from four Border Patrol offices will be reassigned to airports in Phoenix and Las Vegas and to land routes between these airports and the border. They hope to disrupt the developed networks that move people from the border, through safe houses, and to airports from which they are moved to the interior.
As southwestern border enforcement has grown stronger, smuggling has become more prevalent and more dangerous. Immigrants are held at safe houses after being smuggled into the US for a fee and they are then taken into the interior of the US after the payment of an additional fee. While being held the immigrants are often kept in squalid conditions and are sometimes subject to physical abuse.
More than 100 agents will be part of Operation Denial. Many will be participating in maintaining a round the clock presence at the two airports. It is hoped that this will help prevent smugglers from being able to move people out of Phoenix. The plan is then to target the safe houses in Phoenix.
While the INS did work with community and immigrant organizations in developing the new anti-smuggling plan, some advocacy groups worry that it will not only not work, but will increase racial profiling of air passengers in Phoenix and Las Vegas. The INS says that it will be using factors that do not target all travelers, but rather those that are typical of smugglers, such as last minute arrivals and purchases of large numbers of tickets. < Back | Next > Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided as a public service and not intended to establish an attorney client relationship. Any reliance on information contained herein is taken at your own risk. | 
