 BORDER NEWS
A Mexican citizen who was shot while trying to cross the border has filed suit against the INS. According to US authorities, INS inspectors were provoked when Gerardo Flores Valdivia charged them with a broken bottle. Flores, however, tells a different story, saying that the inspectors repeatedly taunted him while he was applying for admission on December 22, 1999. He admits to breaking a bottle, but says that inspectors continued to fire on him even after he dropped it.
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Border Patrol agents in the Tucson sector, which covers most of Arizona, are praising the construction of a border fence and the arrival of new equipment for helping them cut down on the number of people crossing the border. Among the new equipment are three mobile night vision units and eight towers, both of which enhance agents’ ability to spot people crossing on foot. If statistics from the recent Christmas holiday weekend are any indication, the measures to secure the border in Arizona are having an effect. Over that weekend, agents in the Tucson sector apprehended 1,449 people, substantially less than expected.
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Four undocumented immigrants were arrested after a traffic stop near Natchez, Mississippi. After being pulled over because of a headlight that was not working, police discovered that the driver did not have a license and was wanted for a parole violation in Texas. A check of the four passengers revealed that they did not have authorization to be in the US. The four were turned over to the Border Patrol and will face deportation.
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This week, 19 people were found on board a boat that was stranded and taking on water in an inlet near Fort Lauderdale, Florida. They were discovered when the boat was boarded by an employee of a boat towing company. The people, 11 men, seven women, and a toddler, were from Haiti, Ecuador and Cuba. All appeared to be in good health, and they were transferred to a Coast Guard vessel where they were interviewed by the INS. The operator of the boat was taken into custody on suspicion of immigrant smuggling.
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