On January 19, 2006, customs officials at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports of entry became the first in the nation to implement a program of civil fines for citizens and legal residents caught smuggling people into the country. A first offense is punishable by a fine of $5,000. Second-time offenders will be fined twice as much. Adele Fasano, Director of field operations for California's border ports, Adele Fasano notes that the Department of Homeland Security hopes that the fines will further discourage alien smuggling.
Federal prosecutors in San Diego have difficulty in prosecuting smugglers because they have so many cases. In 2005, 92 percent of all smuggling cases at ports of entry took place at the San Ysidro and Otay Mesa ports. Only the worst cases, such as those involving the endangerment of the people being smuggled, are typically prosecuted. Until this new program, there have been no administrative penalties for U.S. citizens who get caught smuggling. \According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman, Kelly Klundt, the guidelines of the San Diego and Otay Mesa ports will apply nationwide and that fines may be implemented immediately.
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According to Texas police and the FBI, Mexican soldiers and civilian smugglers had an armed standoff with nearly 30 U.S. law enforcement officials on the Rio Grande in Texas on Monday afternoon. Mexican military Humvees were towing what appeared to be thousands of pounds of marijuana across the border, at Neely’s Crossing, about 50 miles east of El Paso, into the United States, said Chief Deputy Mike Doyal, of the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Department. Deputies captured one vehicle in the incident, a Cadillac Escalade reportedly stolen from El Paso, and found 1,477 pounds of marijuana inside. Doyal said such incidents are common at Neely's Crossing.
However, the Associated Press recently reported that Mexican and U.S. officials are now saying that the men in military style uniforms were not soldiers at all. Authorities told the AP that known drug traffickers are using military uniforms (and that these outfits are not even regulation uniforms).
No shots were fired during the confrontation and the traffickers escaped back into Mexico with much of the marijuana. Mexican officials told the AP that soldiers are instructed to avoid that area known as the “alert zone” unless they are authorized.
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Dorismar, stage named, Dora Noemi Kerchen, has worked in the United States, among other things, as a Playboy Playmate, calendar pinup, and performer at a Democratic National Convention party. She recently was designated an ''Alien of Extraordinary Ability” as part of the process of applying for permanent residency in the US. The 29-year-old Argentine media star was deported with her husband/manager Alejandro Schiff on Jan. 5, after five years in Miami living as an undocumented immigrant, according to The Miami Herald. Dorismar arrived in the United States under the visa waiver pilot program which allowed Argentine tourists to come to the US without a visa from a consulate. That program ended for Argentines in 2002. Dorismar was one of the many that stayed passed the 90 day limit under the visa waiver program. Those who stay even one day over are subject to immediate deportation without recourse and can barred from the United States for up to10 years depending on the length of the overstay, according to Barbara Gonzalez, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman. Dorismar is seeking a waiver of her 10-year-ban at the consular offices in Buenos Aires so that she can pursue her extraordinary ability-based green card petition
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According to The Sunday Express of India, Narendra Mandalapa, an Indian citizen has been arrested by US immigration authorities in New Jersey, and is being charged with fraud and misuse of visas. After filing nearly 1, 000 possibly fraudulent labor-based petitions in one of the biggest immigration frauds to be uncovered, Mandalapa is now in the custody of the United States Marshals Service. All of these petitions were filed on behalf of skilled Indian and Pakistani computer professionals trying to enter or remain in the US. In order to file the petitions, Mandalapa created two small businesses. The seizures from Mandalapa include four accounts in Edison, N.J., two brokerage accounts in New York, a Mercedes van, and a Lexus sedan. Investigators are now trying to determine how many individuals actually entered the US under these fraudulent petitions and received benefits.
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According to a Reuters article, the U.S. Office of Border Patrol claims that a new pilot program that jails illegal immigrants who cross into the town of Eagle Pass, Texas, and surrounding area from Mexico, has significantly decreased the numbers of attempters. The program instituted on December 12, is called Operation Streamline II. According to the article, officials believe part of the reason for the decline in undocumented immigrants attempting to cross the border at Eagle Pass is due to rumors of increased border patrol security. In mid-2005, approximately 150 undocumented immigrants were apprehended daily by Border patrol, but since its institution, the numbers have dropped to about 10 per day. Under this new program, 740 undocumented immigrants have been arrested and charged with misdemeanor illegal entry. After they are arrested, they are generally tried in federal court and jailed up to 180 days.
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection is currently hiring border patrol agents. US border patrol agents work to prevent terrorist and terrorist weapons from entering the United States. Additionally, agents detect and prevent the smuggling and unlawful entry of undocumented immigrants into the United States, and apprehend those in violation of immigration laws. For more information about the position, go to www.cbp.gov, click on Careers, and then click on Border Patrol Agents. All applications must be received by February 21, 2005.
