BORDER NEWS Border Patrol agents and firefighters recently rescued 27 people trying to sneak into the US through a storm drainage tunnel that runs beneath the US-Mexico border. While none of the people were seriously injured, deaths have resulted in other cases where people tried to enter the US through this and other cross border tunnels.
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Trial began this week in Los Angeles in the case of seven men accused of human smuggling. A woman who had been smuggled by the group gave dramatic testimony about having been repeatedly raped by members of the ring for the amusement of its alleged leader, Mario Arenas Morales. She said that her boyfriend was forced to watch and was himself beaten and tied up. Attorneys for Arenas all but admit his involvement in human smuggling, but argue that he was not involved in any rape. After being held for two days, the immigrants were released. When officials discovered the boyfriend, he had to be rushed to the hospital because he had been so badly beaten. It also appeared that the smugglers had tried to pull his ear off with pliers. The defendants face possible sentences of life in prison.
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There is a growing trend among drug traffickers in Mexico to use children to try to ship drugs into the US. They recruit the children, many of them from middle class families, with stories of easy money just for driving a car across the border. In 1997 500 children under 16 were arrested for smuggling drugs. So far this year there have already been over 720 arrests.
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The US Border Patrol has announced that it will be installing 28 cameras along a 30-mile stretch of the US-Canada border in Washington State. The cameras will be linked by a fiber-optic network and will be monitored from a central location. The cameras are equipped with infrared sensors and will be used at night as well as during the day, and they will eventually be integrated into a system of sensors designed to track people who cross the border without authorization. This is just the latest in a series of build-ups along the northern border in the wake of the apprehension of Ahmed Ressam, whom officials suspect was planning a terrorist act in the US. Officials are also concerned about the number of third country nationals who legally enter Canada and cross illegally into the US, as well as recent increases in the amount of drugs smuggled from Canada into the US.
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The Mexican government is supporting a lawsuit filed by Javier Bencomo, an undocumented immigrant who claims he was illegally detained and assaulted by an Arizona couple. It is believed to by the first suit filed by a migrant against Arizona ranchers. The lawsuit alleges that Andreas and Louis Muller have a history of improperly detaining undocumented immigrants, threatening then with guns and dogs. Bencomo is seeking $300,000 in punitive damages. The Mexican government plans to assist Bencomo in obtaining a visa that will allow him to stay in the US while he pursues his lawsuit.
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The Border Patrol station in Douglas, Arizona, has a new Border Patrol Agent in Charge. Rowdy Adams, who has nearly 20 years experience with the Border Patrol, will be taking over what has been the busiest station over the past three years. Since October 1, 1999, more than 242,000 undocumented immigrants have been apprehended by agents in Douglas, a nearly 50% increase from the same period in the previous year. One of his first orders of business will be to supervise the building of a one-mile stretch of fence east of Douglas. < 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. | 
