A news story out late Wednesday combines themes from two of the posts that have gotten a flurry of comments this week: the immigration debate and South Asians near Vancouver. Canadian authorities and the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Seattle, made a joint announcement that they are indicting 14 U.S. and Canadian men for running a human trafficing ring which tried to smuggle South Asian nationals into the U.S.:
U.S. and Canadian authorities announced Wednesday that they have broken up a human smuggling ring suspected of illegally shepherding dozens of Indian and Pakistani nationals into Washington state from British Columbia.
To date, a federal grand jury in Seattle has indicted 14 U.S. and Canadian men for their roles in the alleged scheme. Twelve had been arrested as of Wednesday.
Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Seattle, said investigators on both sides of the border have worked closely for more than a year, apprehending roughly 50 people who had paid as much as $35,000 apiece to be smuggled into the United States. They were given fake U.S. Passports and were expected to fan out across the United States… [Link]
I can bet you that the members of Congress who advocate tougher border security only (without addressing the other issues) are going to have a field day with this. Too bad it is on the less politically convenient border. It becomes harder to advocate building a 700 mile wall on the border with Mexico under the guise of protecting against terrorism, when the foreign nationals you are more worried about (Pakistanis in this case) are caught attempting to come in through Canada (where they have a larger support network). The CBS article linked above has a list of the indicted. They include a few “kids” from Surrey. The BBC has a few more details:
Canadian police described South Asian citizens being flown into Toronto on false passports and then transported to Vancouver where they were hidden in suburban homes.
Then, the police say, the ring chose deserted locations along the border and shuttled the illegal migrants into the US.
Court documents say people paid the smugglers between $20,000 – $35,000 for each for the trip. [Link]
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p>CNN was careful to note the following:
Authorities have found no connection to terrorism, but they said the arrests raise concerns about the vulnerability of the U.S.-Canadian border. [Link]
I like that immediate need to address/disclaim “terrorism” by CNN as soon as there’s mention of Pakistanis. Way to keep that paranoia whipped up and ready.
In many places along the US-Canada border around Vancouver, the only thing that keeps the countries separated is a line of fencing from houses or property that straddle the border. Surrey itself is adjacent to the border. The border is largely unmonitored, and so it’s no surprise that people took advantage of this and the brown fever to partake of the American dream, to smuggle people across for cash.
While the media makes the link to terrorism by saying there is no link to terrorism, at least they do put that qualifier in their story.
Why aren’t the Vikrams and Shivas of the world jumping all over this thread?
It it wrong to say that several of those people arrested were punjabi and most likely Punjabi gangesters of Vancouver
It it wrong to say that several of those people arrested were punjabi and most likely Punjabi gangesters of Vancouver
At least six, if not all eight, are Punjabis and all but one are from Surrey and surrounding areas (link and look at the names). Of course, that doesn’t make them gangsters, but then again, the last two times they busted South Asian rings up here, all the young guys driving the vans were Punjabi gang-members. I think it was the same thing when it happened in the Bronx, although that time I believe there were also a bunch of Tamils involved…