14 indicted in human smuggling ring on U.S.-Canada border

SEATTLE -- 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.

Winchell said none of those smuggled or involved in the operation were suspected of terrorist activity.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/6420AP_WA_Human_Smuggling.html

Hey.. it's getting to where this may be the case one day.

I just got my bill for my health insurance premium today. (Speaking of fleeing to Canada...) :(

kinda tough to get in but it would be nice.


I heard some state (I think it was Massachusetts) passed a universal health care plan. Let's hope it takes off!

They were there on a student visa while he was in grad school. They LOVED it, but as soon as school was over they couldn't stay any longer, unfortunately. They were very strict about it. They described it as being paradise on earth. :)

What a glorious country that is, but you're right, it is tough to get into.

:wtf:

I know these people were not coming here to pick lettuce or clean bathrooms. They were not coming here because they were willing to do "jobs others won't take".

$35,000 show me that these people were not coming here looking for work, something nefarious is in the cards.

we can get plenty of cheap labor from mexico to build it. :eyes:

Still, a massive amount of money either way. That is kind of bizarre. Maybe it's easier for them to get jobs in the U.S. once they're here, but hard to do in Canada, even though it's apparently easier to get into Canada for them to begin with?

I seriously wonder if there's an extra zero in there. Seems like for that kind of money, you could pay off way more than guy in a truck at the Canadian border.

will we be closing the US Canada border and building walls and fences, will we make it a federal crime to give aid and comfort to our brothers from different mothers to the north?

Until the repugs are consistent on all borders, I can not think of them as anything but racist pigs that attack the poor.

and work?

a great place for non-American computer programmers???

I have no problem with this.

:sarcasm:

and Pakistanis. Seems I have the wrong color passport to get a job in my own country in a profession I've been in for 25 years.

a couple of years ago.

Yes, they often have families already living in the States, or are taken in by family members friends or people who used to live in their community.

They may not pick lettuce, but work at businesses run by the above, and are sheltered by them. Sometimes some of the cost is provided by these people, and the 'smugglee' is expected to work off the balance.

Unfortunately, it can also leave them open to abuse; where can they go, who can they turn to? They're in the country illegally. If they speak up, they will be deported.