* Six illegal aliens crossing the border near Norias, Texas, an hour's drive from the Mexican border, were killed by a freight train while sleeping on the tracks. The possible reason why they were sleeping on tracks is the mistaken belief that sleeping on train tracks offers protection from snakes. A spokesman for Union Pacific, the rail line involved in the accident, said the company is working with the Border Patrol and Mexican authorities to keep people from sleeping on railroad tracks.

* A pregnant woman from Queens, New York is being held in INS detention after spending a weekend in Montreal and returning to the US without a properly filed advance parole document. Her husband fears the ordeal could harm his wife's pregnancy and, as of press time, there is no word when she will be released.

* US Customs Service Officials are detaining nine people from the Dominican Republic who were found as stowaways on a Chinese-owned ship docked at Port Newark, New Jersey. The men apparently lived on candy and water for five days. The crew of the ship was apparently unaware of the presence of the stowaways.

* Immigration agents are investigating the La Quinta hotel chain in connection with the employment of undocumented workers. In a recent raid of seven Phoenix, Arizona-area La Quinta hotels, 48 illegal workers were detained. Most worked in the housekeeping staff. Two former officials with La Quinta in Scottsdale, Arizona also pleaded guilty this month to conspiring to employer illegal workers.

* Arrests of illegal immigrants in Michigan are up sharply. So far this year, eighteen hundred undocumented aliens have been detained, 300 more than all of last year.

* Two Border Patrol agents are under investigation for the shooting of an unarmed illegal alien crossing the border near San Ysidro, California. The shooting victim was said to have refused to drop a rock aimed at the Border Patrol agent. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and San Diego Police are looking into the matter while the two agents are on administrative leave pending the conclusion of the inquiry. This is the first such shooting in the San Diego Border Patrol area since 1995. Also in September, a Border Patrol Agent in San Luis, Arizona shot and killed an illegal alien also after the victim is alleged to have threatened the officer with a rock. See the discussion later in this newsletter on the impact the shooting is having on Mexican-US relations.

* A woman pretending to be an INS official was arrested after she allegedly tricked more than 1,000 Mexicans into paying her to prepare immigration documents the woman claimed would make them eligible to work. Beth Flores pleaded guilty in San Antonio to falsifying more than 1,400 applications and telling customers they were immigration forms. She charged approximately $300 per application. Flores was sentenced to more than four years in prison and ordered her to pay back $500,000 to her victims.

* A Brazilian man is in INS custody after he was arrested for selling phony Florida driver's licenses, Brazilian passports, check cashing cards and checkbooks. Pedro Rodriguez allegedly sold the documents to Brazilian tourists arriving at Miami International Airport.

* Two women were arrested in upstate New York this month for alien smuggling after they were pulled over for suspected drunk driving. An inspection of their van led to the discovery of nine illegal immigrants lying on top of each other. The driver of the van was not drunk but was suffering from sleep deprivation. Police have not determined whether the immigrants were picked up on the US side of the border or the Canadian side. The smuggled immigrants were all Chinese except for a lone Pakistani.

* Border Patrol arrests along the Arizona-Mexican border increased by 42% in Fiscal Year 1998 which ended September 30th. Part of the increase is suspected to be the result of border crackdowns in Texas and California that have caused immigrants to cross more frequently in Arizona's Sonoran Desert. The INS also attributes the increase to more agents, more funding and the heat waves in Texas and California this summer. In contrast, the San Diego Border Patrol reports a 13% drop in arrests. This is considered to be a sign of success by the INS since the decline is presumably due to a smaller number of people crossing. Migrant rights groups claim that border crossers are instead taking more dangerous remote routes.

* The Border Patrol is planning to expand a chain link fence running through downtown El Paso, Texas by up to 20 miles. The INS contends that the fence will help seal the border better and reduce drownings in the new American Canal that separates El Paso from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. 15 people have drown in the canal this year and rescues are up 50%. Critics of the plan say that the US should be focusing on improving ties between the Juarez and El Paso communities. The Border Patrol also will add more lighting, cameras and microwave technology to decrease crime and illegal border crossings in the area.

* Police in Atlantic City, New Jersey recently arrested thirteen Korean and Thai women on prostitution charges after raiding several massage parlors in the downtown area. The women are believed to be indentured servants brought over by Asian organized crime figures.

* More than 50 Cuban refugees have come ashore in Miami Beach, Florida this month signaling a new wave of migration.

* A Mexican man being detained at the INS detention facility in San Pedro, California committed suicide earlier this month. He was discovered after he hanged himself in his single cell in the facility's "administrative segregation" wing. The INS would not comment on why the detainee was in the segregated portion of the facility.

* A Honduran man is in detention after stowing away in the wheel well of an Iberian Airlines jet flying from Honduras to Miami. Airline ramp agents called paramedics after witnessing the man drop out of the DC-9's rear wheel well and walk away. Emilio Dominguez endured more than two hours of virtually no oxygen and sub-zero temperatures to make it to this country. INS officials were planning to deport Dominguez on the next Iberian Airlines flight to Honduras. [Editor's note - Perhaps there should be a national interest visa category for people with the stamina and love of America willing to undertake such a dangerous mission?]

* Four men attempting to cross the border in the desert in Imperial County, California were found dead last month. The four are the latest to be added to a 100+ death toll for Mexicans who have died crossing the desert this summer. Another man died 20 miles away the same week after he drowned in the All-American Canal east of Calexico, California.

* An alien smuggler in California was convicted last month for arranging for the smuggling of 280 Chinese nationals via two fishing boats. John Luong, described by prosecutors as being a gang leader, received a three-year jail term.