BORDER NEWS

The US Border Patrol and the Mexican border enforcement agency, Beta Grupo, have been conducting ongoing bilateral efforts to prevent deaths among border crossers since last year.  A new training program has been implemented that focuses on rescues in mountainous terrain.  Another part of the effort is a joint advertising campaign aimed at encouraging migrants to avoid dangerous areas.  Rescue training for desert areas is scheduled for next year. 

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The US Embassy in Managua, Nicaragua has requested the Nicaraguan government to being requiring entry visas from people whose ultimate destination is the US.  According to the Embassy, it is requesting the measure as a method of stopping alien smuggling.  Thus far, there has been no official response from the Nicaraguan government.

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Last week the INS conducted a two-day sting operation in Florida, called Operation Home Run, aimed at uncovering human rights violators from other countries in the US.  As a result of the operation, 14 people were arrested.  The arrested individuals were from Haiti, Angola, and Peru and were all in the US without authorization.  Most of those arrested were members of military or paramilitary organizations in their home country.  Most have also confessed to their offenses, which in some cases involved rape and torture.  Under the 1996 immigration law, people accused of human rights violations after 1996 can be prosecuted in the US, but those whose crimes occurred before 1996 must be deported and face trial in their home country.

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A Border Patrol agent was indicted this week on charged of with violating the civil rights of an undocumented immigrant who he allegedly beat with a flashlight.  While few facts about the case have been made public, the indictment claims that the agent, David Sipe, beat the immigrant while attempting to detain a group of border crossers along the Rio Grande in Texas.  If convicted, Sipe faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

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The INS says it has disrupted a smuggling ring believed to be responsible for the smuggling of hundreds of South Koreans across the Canadian border with the US.  According to recently filed court documents, the smugglers would charge about $5,000 to transport a person from Seoul to Vancouver and then into the US.  The person believed to be the leader, a native of South Korea and naturalized Canadian citizen, is in detention following the issuance of a four count indictment against him.  The indictment is the result of an investigation that began in April 1999 after the Royal Canadian Mounted Police stopped a vehicle in an area known for smuggling and alerted the Border Patrol to a possible smuggling ring.

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