 BORDER NEWS
Last week we mentioned the tragic death of a Border Patrol agent who was struck by a tractor trailer while making an arrest. Since, then, more information about the accident has become available. Agent Jason Panides and his partner had just stopped a group of immigrants when the accident occurred. According to the driver of the truck, he was distracted by the agents’ flashlights and drove on to the shoulder of the road, striking Panides. The local sheriff’s office is investigating the accident to determine whether charges should be filed against the driver.
*********
Officials in McComb, Mississippi are studying a proposal from Texas-based Cornell Corrections to erect a low-security detention facility in the town. Under the proposal, the facility would house mostly immigrants pending deportation. One of the ways that the proposal is being sold to the town is pointing out that because few of the immigrants will be from Mississippi, there would not be much traffic from people coming and going from the facility to visit detainees. Advocates home have long criticized the practice of moving people in detention to locations far from their homes.
*********
Last week Border Patrol agents arrested a transient after seeing him stringing razor wire in the New River between California and Mexico. According to local police, the man intended the wire to injure migrants who attempt to cross the river into the US.
*********
Commuters in Southern California are experiencing a difficult time because of a clash in technology. Electronic transponders used for toll roads and those used by the Border Patrol for a rapid entry commuter lane use the same frequency, and this is forcing travelers who used to be able to use both devices to pick one. At the beginning of this month, the Border Patrol replaced the bar code it had been using in the commuter lane with transponders, which has created the problem. About 35 percent of those who use the commuter lane also use the toll road transponders. The Border Patrol is working with the state to develop a solution, which they hope to have in place in about a month.
*********
Three managers and a recruiter for Nebraska Beef pled not guilty this week to a 22 count indictment accusing them of conspiring to smuggle undocumented immigrants into the US to work at Nebraska Beef’s processing facility in Omaha. Two others named in the indictment have not been apprehended.
*********
INS agents in Chandler, Arizona arrested 71 people this week, including the manager of the apartment complex where the arrests occurred. The agents had a warrant for the arrest of one person on charges of harboring undocumented immigrants, and in the process of executing it discovered a roomful of people. A search of the entire complex discovered 70 undocumented immigrants.
*********
Border Patrol search and rescue teams rescued 65 undocumented immigrants during storms last weekend. While some had mild hypothermia at the time of their rescue, none needed to be hospitalized. The immigrants were rescued from the mountains east of San Diego. In recent years these mountains have become an increasingly popular place for undocumented crossings, but a number of people have died during the journey.
*********
Gordon Giffin, the outgoing US ambassador to Canada, says that the two countries should adopt a joint border policy. In an interview with a Canadian paper, he said that such a policy would help reduce the problem of terrorists entering the US through Canada. After the arrest of Ahmed Ressam in December 1999 when explosives were found in his car at a border crossing near Seattle, criticism of Canadian immigration policies increased dramatically. Giffin said that a joint border policy would not only improve security, it would make crossing easier for citizens of the two countries. Giffin will be replaced as ambassador on May 1 by Paul Cullucci, currently the Governor of Massachusetts. Canadian immigration officials say it is unlikely that a joint policy would be adopted.
*********
This week a Mexican immigration official was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of immigrant smuggling charges. Angel Salvador Moreno is accused of involvement in a smuggling ring that brought hundreds of Iraqis and Palestinians to the US through El Paso during 1996 and 1997. According to prosecutors, the immigrants were charged between $ 10,000 and $ 15,000 to be smuggled into the US. Others involved in the ring have already been convicted and are serving prison sentences, while still others remain at large.
| 
