BORDER NEWS

Two dozen Mexican immigrants who survived a 12-hour trip in the back of a tractor-trailer are being allowed to remain in the US while government officials decide which of them to call as witnesses against the people who smuggled them into the US.  The immigrants were found in late July.  Two men had died and ten more required hospitalization.  The survivors have been granted humanitarian parole, which will allow them to live and work in the US for six months.  INS officials are also considering granting the immigrants T visas, a relatively new visa designed for victims of human trafficking. 

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This week the US Coast Guard apprehended more than 50 Cuban migrants off the coast of the Florida Keys, and took three suspected smugglers into custody.  Two boats were stopped, each carrying about 25 people.  During the stop, a man on board one of the boats threatened to throw an infant overboard, and the boat tried to ram a Coast Guard vessel blocking access to the shore.  Making it to shore is crucial because Cuban migrants who do are generally allowed to remain in the US, while those stopped at sea are repatriated to Cuba. 

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Border Patrol agents will soon be using pepperball guns while patrolling the border.  The guns shoot rubber bullets that are filled with a powdered pepper spray that is severely irritating to those exposed.  The hope is that the non-lethal weapons will allow agents to more easily resolve confrontations with migrants.

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