Thread: CO: Sheriff pulls over weaving SUV, stuffed with 17 people

Call nets immigrants
Sheriff pulls over weaving SUV, finds it stuffed with 17 people


July 26, 2007
BY JOHN R. CRANE | Journal Staff Writer

A routine stop for careless driving turned into an immigration arrest Wednesday morning on U.S. Highway 491 north of Cortez.


JOURNAL/BOB FITZGERALD
ALLEGED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS make use of the little bit of shade around a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement van while waiting to be transported to Durango. Montezuma County Sheriff Gerald Wallace pulled a weaving Suburban over north of Cortez on Wednesday morning that contained 17 occupants, including the driver.
Montezuma County Sheriff Gerald Wallace said he was near the Maverik station when he received a call of a vehicle weaving and heading south on 491 at about 40 miles per hour. When he pulled over the 1999 Chevrolet Suburban about 8:30 a.m., it turned out to be carrying 17 alleged illegal immigrants, including the driver, Wallace said.

The Suburban was going to Denver from Phoenix, where the driver said he picked up the passengers, Wallace said. The sheriff declined to release the driver's name because of unreliable identification that included a Washington driver's license with no photo.

The driver and passengers, all adults, told Wallace they had no visas and spoke no English. However, the driver spoke a little English, Wallace said.

"He speaks a little English, but only the English he wants you to hear," Wallace said.

The passengers were in good condition, but many were thirsty, he said.

The driver may be a coyote, someone who transports illegal immigrants for money or other compensation, Wallace said. Wallace said he is 99.9 percent sure - based on evidence he declined to elaborate on - the driver was taking the passengers to Denver for work.

Wallace called the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Durango. An ICE officer at the scene declined to comment.

Carl Rusnok, spokesman at the regional ICE office in Dallas, said the passengers were being processed and questioned in Durango on Wednesday and that the case is still under investigation. Rusnok said officials believe all the immigrants are from Mexico.

Rusnok said there were 18 alleged illegal immigrants in the Suburban, including the driver, and that such cases are not uncommon.

Coyotes can make thousands of dollars per transported immigrant and will maximize profits any way they can, Rusnok said.

"This is, unfortunately, not unusual," he said.

Coyotes will cram as many people as they can into a vehicle, sometimes ripping out seats for more space, Rusnok said. Immigrants may pay a coyote $1,500 each to get into the United States and are treated "worse than cattle," he said.

"They (coyotes) have no regard for human life," Rusnok said.

ICE has no statistics regarding the number of such cases in the United States or Colorado, Rusnok said.

Wallace said he will charge the driver with careless driving.

The Suburban had no air-conditioning knobs, Wallace said. Two gallons of water, food and a cooler were in the vehicle.

Wallace said he normally would call immigration officers with the Colorado State Patrol, but none was on duty in the area.

The Suburban's front tires barely touched the highway while traveling because of the weight of so many people in the back of the vehicle, Wallace said. An accident would have yielded tragic consequences, he said.

"When you have a situation like this, it would be irresponsible not to do something," he said.

At least nine fatal accidents involving alleged illegal-immigrant smuggling have occurred in Colorado since 2000, according to a July 17 Denver Post article. The most recent killed three alleged illegal immigrants on Interstate 70 near Eagle on July 16, the Post reported.

In July 2006, then-Gov. Bill Owens signed 10 immigration bills that were passed during the Legislature's special session.

Reach John Crane at johnc@cortezjournal.com.

http://www.cortezjournal.com/asp-bin/ar ... 0726_1.htm

He speaks a little English, but only the English he wants you to hear," Wallace said

That is the case a lot of the time. Not a lot of them are totally without English, especialy comprehension of it.

While I am all for prosecuting the coyotes - why then, do the employers get a pass?