Thread: Minivan on I-35 had heavy load: 15 illegal immigrants

Minivan on I-35 had heavy load: 15 illegal immigrants
By JIM ADAMS, Star Tribune

April 30, 2008

When Lakeville police stopped a minivan going 81 miles an hour at 2:30 a.m. on Interstate 35 last week, they found that it was packed with 15 illegal immigrants who had been traveling for a week, most likely from Arizona.

The van was littered with food wrappers and missing the middle seat, Capt. Kevin Manias said Wednesday. The occupants, including one woman, said they were headed to Minneapolis for construction jobs. One rider said the driver charged them $130 each for the trip, Manias said.

The Ford Windstar, which normally seats seven, had been specially modified with stronger springs and suspension parts to accommodate the additional weight.

All 15, including the driver, are expected to be deported to Mexico, said Tim Counts, spokesman for the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency. He said such smuggling incidents are common across the country.

"Smugglers treat their human cargo worse than animals," he said. "Safety is not a priority. There are no seat belts and the drivers sometimes drive for 10 to 15 hours straight."

Counts said his office has deported people found in three other smuggling vehicles in Minnesota since March 2006, including a load of eight stopped in February 2008. Local police contact federal agents when they find illegal immigrants, he said.

The smuggled people generally come here for jobs or to join family members, Counts said. Getting jobs means obtaining false identity cards, which are not hard to find, he said.

Sgt. Kevin Flynn of the Worthington police said legal and illegal immigrants come to work farm jobs in southern Minnesota. He said smugglers sometimes take advantage of their human cargo by threatening to tell authorities of their status unless they provide money or other favors. "The illegal immigrants are terrified, thinking they could be imprisoned or worse," Flynn said.

Counts said immigration officers see many more smugglers' vehicles in Nebraska and Iowa than Minnesota. For example, since September, Iowa had 11 smuggling loads, carrying 121 people. Nebraska had 10 loads, carrying 149, Counts said. Most of that smuggling is in vehicles coming from the Arizona and New Mexico area and headed east or west on Interstate 80, he added.

Sometimes local police come across human smuggling when they respond to crashes, some fatal. Counts said he has heard of vehicles carrying illegal immigrants crashing in Nebraska and Iowa, but not in Minnesota.

Two trucks carrying smuggled people had fatal crashes in the past month in the southwest. A crash Sunday in central Arizona killed four and injured 27. In late March, a truck crammed with suspected illegal immigrants crashed in Texas near the Mexican border, killing three and injuring 14 others.

Counts said federal prosecutors charge smugglers when they have adequate evidence, which they didn't in the Lakeville case. He wouldn't say what evidence criteria is used, because smugglers would use that to avoid prosecution.

Immigrants are needed to fill jobs that U.S. citizens don't want, said Alondra Espejel, spokeswoman for the Minnesota Immigrant Freedom Network in St. Paul. She said the U.S. economy annually requires roughly 500,000 new low-skilled workers, but the government only issues about 5,000 visas for such jobs each year. "Immigration is infusing life into Minnesota," she said.

Jim Adams • 612-673-7658

© 2008 Star Tribune. All rights reserved.
http://www.startribune.com/local/south/18403589.html

"They are a relatively modern phenomenon" and that nations such as Italy and Israel did not exist 60 years ago and 150, respectively, said Mujica. "They are a relatively modern phenomenon" and that nations such as Italy and Israel did not exist 60 years ago and 150, respectively, said Mujica.

With a 50% high school dropout rate, it some cases, we can't come up with 500,000 LOW-skilled workers.?? What are these people doing...selling drugs??