More Bodies of Immigrants Being Found Near Texas Border
USAToday reports that the body count around the U.S. Mexico border is steadily increasing, despite the decrease in the overall number of successful border-crossing endeavors. Deputy Rolando Gutierrez, who monitors border activity in Brooks County, is called out on a “Code 500,” the department’s call sign for a dead body, several times a week. In 2012, deputies picked up 129 bodies in Brooks County. This year, deputies have found 39 bodies and fear they will surpass last year’s tally as the sweltering summer crawls on. These numbers suggest that an increase in border security might not be enough to decrease the number of dead bodies found in the desert. An influx of agents and technology could do just the opposite by pushing immigrants into more treacherous terrain, according to Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, current chair of the government department at the University of Texas-Brownsville.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/20/bodies-immigrants-brookscounty-texas/2509053/
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Auditors Prod Customs to Speed Border Crossing Times
Statelinereports that the federal agency that oversees border checkpoints announced need for more than 3,800 new officers in order to combat crossing delays at the U.S. Mexican border. These delays purportedly waste millions of dollars every year as cargo trucks idle in long lines. The Government Accountability Office questioned the need for so many new workers. Three out of six border crossing stations visited by auditors were already fully staffed, and the federal border agency did not explain how it reached its staffing estimations. Auditors also claim that CBP’s estimates for wait times are unreliable and inconsistent. This, in turn, makes it difficult for companies to plan when to send their goods across the border, leading to even bigger delays. To combat these delays, the Texas Department of Transportation and researchers at Texas A&M University have started using traceable microchips to track vehicles as they move through the lines. The project is funded through early 2015, but TDOT spokesman Mark Cross said he hoped to find another source of funding in the future.
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‘Fake Cubans’ Visa Fraud Trend Growing, Says US Immigration and Customs
Latin Times reports an increase in immigrants hoping to pass as Cuban in order to gain expedited access to the United States. In 1996, Congress passed the Cuban Adjustment Act, which automatically grants Cuban immigrants refugee status and allows them to seek permanent residency after being in the U.S. for one year. Since Cuba still uses paper birth certificates rather than computerized ones, hopeful immigrants can obtain handmade birth certificates for $10,000-$20,000, along with instructions on how to “act Cuban” to fool immigration officials. This trend, according to an official with ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations, is growing. Operation Havana Gateway was put in place in August 2012 in an attempt to minimize Cuban immigration fraud; so far, it has led to 40 arrests, including Fidel Morejon Vega, a leader in the “fake Cuban” fraud ring. Vega is currently serving 33 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit immigration fraud.
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Agencies Buying Hotel Rooms for Surge of Illegally Present Mexican Immigrants, Others Released
Foxnews.com reports that immigration agents in San Diego are overwhelmed by the number of hopeful Mexican immigrants seeking asylum in the U.S. Agencies are renting hotel rooms and in some cases releasing families to other cities around the U.S. for temporary placement as they await their court dates. Recently, 200 border-crossers came through the Otay Mesa Port of Entry while as many as 550 overflowed inside the processing center there and in nearby Sam Ysidro. Though most of these numbers come from Mexico, some immigrants listed their native country as Haiti, Romania, Guatemala, or Iraq. Asylum claims from Mexico are “highly unusual,” and some officials suspect that the surge is more about “overwhelming the system.” ICE officials think this influx might be fueled by the belief that “credible fear” of Mexican drug cartels will be enough to ensure asylum for Mexican immigrants. Many of these immigrants neglect to show up for their court dates; ICE sources say that an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 undocumented immigrants skip their court dates and “disappear into the U.S.” Immigration officials stress that credible fear is not a guarantee for asylum approval, but rather just a step in the process.
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