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6/28/06
Austin police arrest 9 after standoff


By Matt Powell
PrintEmail Article Tools Page 1 of 1 Austin police have taken nine people into custody after a six-hour standoff in North Austin that uncovered alleged illegal immigrant smuggling.

The Austin Police Department received a call around 2 p.m. Monday claiming that "individuals were being held against their will," in a duplex at Windy Trail and Newmont Road, according to a department spokeswoman. A SWAT team responded, leading to a standoff that resulted in the apprehension of seven men and two women Monday evening.

The department would not release the names or nationalities of the hostages or kidnappers, but said they were not U.S. citizens.

Austin police are currently deferring all questions related to the incident to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement because it is likely an issue of illegal immigrant smuggling.

The groups that smuggle illegal immigrants across the border, commonly called coyotes, often smuggle more than just people.

"One thing people don't talk about is that these coyotes are involved in larger rings that involve slavery and drug money," said Jim Harrington, director of the Austin-based Texas Civil Rights Project.

Saul Soto, who works for the Border Network for Human Rights in El Paso, said that the problem is in U.S. legislation.

"Immigration laws are antiquated and need to be updated," Soto said. "People will do what they have to for themselves and their families, and sometimes that means contacting these coyotes."

Harrington said immigrant smuggling is not uncommon.

"This is quite an industry in Mexico," he said. "The price has risen to $4,000 per person since the crackdown by Homeland Security."

Another problem with the coyotes, Soto said, is that they are not bound by contract with the immigrants.

More than 500 immigrants, almost two people per day, died at the hands of the coyotes in 2005, Soto said.

"They see these people as less than human, and so they have no problem just taking their money and dumping them anywhere across the border, with no papers or help."