http://nctimes.com/articles/2006/06/..._016_19_06.txt

U.S. officials fear border crackdown will fuel spike in people smuggled by car

By: WILL WEISSERT - Associated Press

TIJUANA, Mexico -- With windows tinted charcoal black and a hint of new-car smell lingering inside, the Chevy Suburban with California plates nearly made it through a border inspection booth. Then a customs officer spotted something behind the back seats.

Under the gray carpeting lay 14 undocumented Mexicans -- eight women, five men and a little boy -- packed together so tightly that some had to remove their shoes to fit.

They're part of a growing number of migrants sneaking across the border in cars and trucks. Some cram themselves into empty gas tanks, hollowed-out dashboards and even engines. Others hide inside cargo, from pinatas to washing machines.


Many try to ride across in plain sight of border agents, using falsified or borrowed documents. And while some smugglers use stolen cars or used vehicles that are hard to trace, others pay U.S. citizens to drive migrants across.

In fact, so many U.S. citizens try to drive carloads of undocumented migrants across that federal authorities have begun issuing $5,000 fines for Americans caught doing it. Nearly 300 fines have been levied since the program took effect Jan. 23, said Adele Fasano, Southern California director of field operations for Customs and Border Protection.

Now that National Guard troops are patrolling the border and Congress is discussing extending border fences, U.S. officials worry vehicle crossings could become even more common.

Most try to cross into California, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers captured 49,243 illegal migrants trying to drive into America last fiscal year -- 92 percent of all in-vehicle apprehensions nationwide. The rates this year were up slightly through April, even before troops began arriving at the border.

As illegal border crossings elsewhere become more risky, more migrants may try to drive across to San Diego, counting on Tijuana's sophisticated smuggling networks and a climate near the ocean that is relatively mild compared to the deserts further east.

"To put somebody in a compartment or a trunk out in Arizona or even Calixico (California) and the desert areas in Texas, the temperatures reach very high levels in the summer," Fasano said. "They could be looking at murder charges."

In the case of the Suburban, Mexican Alejandro Prieto tried to drive across using someone else's valid border-crossing card. He told prosecutors he's not a smuggler -- and that he only agreed to drive to avoid paying the $2,500 fee smugglers would have charged to sneak him into the U.S., according to court documents.

Prosecutors are pursuing smuggling charges against Prieto because he was carrying a child and such a large number of undocumented migrants. But the vast majority of drivers apprehended face no criminal penalty.

"The thing that causes us difficultly is just volume," said James Hynes, director of the busy San Ysidro crossing between Tijuana and San Diego. "We'd like to prosecute them all, but the system can't handle it, so we take the best cases."

Tens of thousands of migrants get away with it. Others barely escape alive.

Jesus Guerrero, 38, said he agreed to pay a people smuggler $2,600 to get him to Los Angeles, where a landscaping job was waiting.

Shortly after 7 a.m., he climbed into the trunk of a Toyota Camry with two women, fellow illegal migrants he had never met. A smuggler drove them into California through the Tecate border crossing, but failed to stop at a U.S. Border Patrol highway checkpoint.

As the car sped away, authorities punched holes in two tires, causing it to flip onto its side and collide with a concrete barrier. Rolling around in the trunk, Guerrero thought for an instant he had been killed.

"It's common, but it's very dangerous. I recommend nobody do it," said Guerrero, interviewed at a Tijuana migrants' shelter. "It's horrible."

Guerrero, who bruised his arm in the crash, said crossing had become too dangerous, and he planned to return to his native Sinaloa state, even though his wife and 10-year-old son -- an American -- live in Los Angeles.

Brigido Vargas, a 50-year-old mechanic from the western city of Guadalajara, said he would try to drive across after getting caught trying to hike through the Arizona desert.

"I don't even speak Spanish that well," Vargas said, describing his plans in English.

Vargas said his wife, four children and 12 grandchildren are all American citizens, but he's got a criminal history that bars him from becoming a citizen, even though he's lived in Los Angeles since age 9. He plans to drive over the border using his brother's California driver's license.

"In a car, you can get through the border really easily," he said.

On the Net:


National Guard: http://www.arng.army.mil

Border Patrol: http://www.cbp.gov/

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Comments On This Story

Note: Comments reflect the views of readers and not necessarily those of the North County Times or its staff.
Simon wrote on June 19, 2006 8:11 PM:" What's the problem? You have already identified the possibility that more criminal, illegal, non-citizens will attempt to come across the border by packing vehicles. The idea is to be smarter than the criminal illegals. Have a few working lunches, you know - where the boss brings in sandwiches and sodas, and brain storm the problem. In a short time the illegals will find that they will have to find a better way. Spend a few extra minutes in the working lunches, try to think as they do, and you might beat them to the punch and determine what their next move will be. It is that easy - just remember you have to be smarter than the illegals. "

Amigodelamigra wrote on June 20, 2006 8:01 AM:"Criminal prosecution of smuggling would surely overwhelm our judicial system, so fines remain the only viable punishment. Perhaps a $5,000 fine is still not enough. Something like $10,000 per person smuggled should probably be the minimum fine imposed. Use the revenues from the fines to beef up sweeps of workplaces that exploit illegal labor. "

DMann wrote on June 20, 2006 8:34 AM:"I think we need to step back and look at a way to SLOVE the illegal immigration problem. True I think we need to secure the border but I think the main problem is NOT access to our country so much as it is inncentives. What I mean by that is we need to erase the benifits of being here illegally. That means fines for not only companies that provide jobs, but individuals as well. We need to make it so there are NO JOBS here for illegals. Also we should not offer social services, schooling, medical attention, free housing, foodstamps or ANYTHING to illegals. Bottom line they are being rewarded for breaking the laws. And yes I know most are seeking a better life, but we also attract a large criminal element (25% of ALL of the prisoners in the LA County jail system are illegal). If there were no jobs, free lunches, and the social services ONLY Americans have, there would be no benifit for illegals to come here. To get all this free stuff is a HUGE thing to illegals for they dont get so much free stuff from thier failed economy. So its worth it to deal with the hell, and yes it is hell, to cross deserts & mountains to get here and leetch off the great American system. If we remove the work & benifits they will have no reason to come. Just my thought."

Tired of Illegals wrote on June 20, 2006 8:48 AM:"After catching the smugglers, they should be publically humiliated, and then have their assets and all future wages garnished to pay for the free lunches the illegal kids get in our public schools!"

I GETIT wrote on June 20, 2006 9:32 AM:"As a new (female) member of the Minutemen, I am ashamed to say I waited so long to act. We hold demonstrations, protests and rallies on a weekly basis. Some weeks there are two and three functions to attend. No one can be everywhere at once, but now I have pledged myself to being somewhere acting on my beliefs at least one day a week. There are many women involved in the Minuteman Project, and they are the best of the best American freedom fighters! I will be making my first trip to the CA border next weekend, for two nights and three days of watching my county's border with Mexico. My children will stay with their Aunt and Uncle as I sit watch for the first time! I was there last Sunday with my new-found Minuteman friends, just to see what it is all about, and I have to say, after getting over the shock of the spectacle of a wide-open entryway into the sovereign U.S., I am ready. I met a couple of the 'boots-on-the-ground' US Border Patrol agents, too. What an honor. How terrible it is to see these men and women sacrificing their time, efforts and possibly their lives for such a thankless, fruitless outcome. I for one, will do all I can to see that their job becomes as meaningful as it should be. This article is just another kick in the pants for me! I am so tired of the lack of action by my government! I am much more fearful of the men and women in Washington DC than I am of sitting watch at the border of my nation. This is so exciting! Finally I am doing something! "