 BORDER AND DEPORTATION NEWS
Two men have pled guilty to charges of smuggling migrants into the US and forcing them to work in South Florida farms until their smuggling debt was paid off. The plea agreement was the result of an investigation conducted by the INS, the Border Patrol and the National Worker Exploitation Task Force, a branch of the Justice Department. The men face sentences of up to five years in prison and a fine of $ 250,000. Migrants who escaped described threats made to keep them working, and in the plea agreement the defendants admitted that they threatened to shoot anyone who attempted to escape. Using involuntary servitude to collect on a debt is considered a form of slavery, and has been illegal in the US since the 1870s.
A former immigration inspector at the Nogales station has pled guilty to charges of bribery, in exchange for which she will not be prosecuted for illegally selling immigration documents. She admitted to giving documents to the father of her children, a Mexican citizen, and to giving an I-94 to a friend that later gave her $ 500. She faces eight to 14 months in prison.
An INS detention officer has pled guilty to smuggling a deported man back into the US. It appears she fell in love with the man during his detention prior to deportation for selling drugs. The INS officer faces up to five years in prison and a $ 250,000 fine.
A federal grand jury has indicted an INS border inspector and three other people on charges of accepting bribes and attempting to import cocaine into the US. The maximum penalty for the bribery charges is 15 years and a fine equal to three times the amount of the bribes. The attempted importation charge carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, with a maximum possible sentence of life in prison and a million fine.
The US Coast Guard seized three boats off the coast of San Diego over the Memorial Day weekend. The first and second seizures occurred without incidence, and the passengers were turned over to the INS. The third incident, however, was unusual. One of the eight passengers swam ashore seeking help because the boat was sinking and none of the other passengers could swim. A lifeguard rescued the seven other men. He was calling the sheriff’s department to fill out a report on the incident when all eight of the men ran away. The most likely reason for the increasing number of sea crossings off the coast of California is the success of Operation Gatekeeper, which has made land crossings very difficult.
As part of its annual summer effort to prevent dangerous southern border crossings, the US Border Patrol is starting a new television advertising campaign. Rather than a Border Patrol agent warning of the dangers of summer crossings, as in previous years, the commercials this year feature a young Mexican widow whose husband died of dehydration when the smugglers who were sneaking him across the border abandoned him. The INS will air the ads on Mexican television and on stations in Southern California.
Following a two-hour long car chase, police finally caught a van carrying 15 undocumented immigrants in San Diego County. The INS attempted to pull the van over on Interstate 10, but the van sped off. The chase then ensued. Twice the driver avoided spike strips set in the road to stop him before finally being stopped. He was arrested for avoiding a peace officer and for reckless driving. All but one of the passengers were apprehended shortly after the accident.
Another portion of the growing fence along the US-Mexico border has been completed, this one a 10 foot high steel fence separating Calexico, California from Mexicali, Mexico.
A minivan carrying 17 undocumented migrants was involved in a single vehicle accident on Interstate 17, killing three of the passengers and leaving three more in the hospital. The accident closed a section of the Interstate for two hours. The driver of the van fled the scene of the accident and is being sought by authorities.
Douglas, Arizona is getting an additional 47 Border Patrol agents drawn from other areas of the border. The move is welcome in Douglas, where the mayor, Ray Borane, has been calling for an increased Border Patrol presence for months. Some of the extra agents will be assigned to a special team designed to deal with reports of smugglers and to respond more effectively to local ranchers’ reports of illegal entrants.
A Cochise County, Arizona rancher is under investigation for his role in detaining five illegal entrants. Authorities say the man fired two warning shots, forcing the migrants to stop, and detaining them until Border Patrol agents arrived. The migrants say they were not shot at, but were nonetheless frightened and intimidated. This is the third such incident this year in Cochise County.
A recent confrontation between a Border Patrol agent and an undocumented migrant almost turned tragic as the migrant aimed a handgun at the agent and pulled the trigger. Luckily the gun did not go off because the safety was on. The agent then wrestled his attacker to the ground and disarmed him. The gun was stolen from a local home.
A former immigration inspector in the San Diego District Office has been indicted on charges of fraud and conspiracy for stealing and selling immigration documents. According to the indictment, Daniel Goodrum removed confiscated green cards from a safe, cards that were supposed to be destroyed, and passed them on to his brother-in-law, who would then sell them in Tijuana for between $ 200 and $ 1000. On at least two occasions green cards stolen by Goodrum were used by drug smugglers. Both the fraud and conspiracy charges carry five year prison terms.
Four people, including an employee of the Social Security Administration have been arrested on charges of selling Social Security cards for as much as $ 1400 each. They are suspected of selling as many as 300 cards over a three year period. Social Security cards can be used as a supporting document for an I-9 Form, entitle the holder to employment in the US, government benefits, and are generally required for things such as opening a bank account.
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