BORDER NEWS

Just days after a tractor-trailer was discovered outside of Dallas filled with undocumented immigrants, including two who had died, another group of migrants was discovered in a trailer outside of San Antonio.  No one died in this incident, although two men were treated for dehydration.  Both drivers were arrested.  Authorities say that at this point they are not sure, but that it is possible smugglers recruited the drivers.

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This week the INS deported 25 Haitians, most of who had arrived in the US in a highly publicized journey late last year that prompted the INS to tighten restrictions on Haitian asylum seekers.  The deportations led to protests from immigration and community advocates.  According to an INS spokesperson, most of the Haitians were deported because their asylum applications had been denied.

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More than 10 months after Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act, calling for the number of Border Patrol agents stationed on the Canadian border to be tripled, the INS is still struggling to find enough agents.  As of June, there were 356 agents stationed on the northern border, up only 25 since September 11th.  At the same time, 39 more agents were stationed on the Mexican border, bringing the total number of agents there to 9,100.  According to the INS, cooperation between the US and Canada means that the border is already fairly secure.

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Even as the INS works to hire more Border Patrol agents, veteran agents have steadily been leaving the agency over the past year.  Many are leaving for better paying jobs with the new Transportation Security Administration as air marshals.  Others are leaving because of morale problems that have plagued the agency for many years.  There are also concerns about the ultimate fate of the Border Patrol, and where within the new Department of Homeland Security it will fit.

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Last weekend, a Border Patrol agent exchanged gunfire with an unknown person just north of the Mexican border in Arizona.  Last May, an agent reported being shot at by a Mexican soldier in the same area. The Mexican government denies any soldiers were in the area.

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Over the past four months, at least 60 Cuban migrants have arrived in the US Virgin Islands in what officials believe is an effort to open a new way to get to the US.  While the Virgin Islands are more than 1,000 miles from Cuba, as opposed to southern Florida, which is less than 100, officials believe that the fact that the ocean between Cuba and Florida is heavily patrolled has induced some smugglers to try a different route.  For immigration purposes, there is no difference between the US mainland and the Virgin Islands, meaning that Cubans who arrive on the islands can apply for permanent residency under the Cuban Adjustment Act. 

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The Mexican government recently confirmed that Mexican soldiers shot at a truck carrying a group of migrants last month.  According to a statement, the soldiers had ordered the truck to stop, and when it did not, pursued it.  Many human rights groups suspected the military was responsible for the shooting, in which six people were wounded.

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